Amazon‘s New World has confirmed that they “do not want this to be a pay-to-win experience.”
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In May, Studio Director Rich Lawrence had to take to Twitter to dispel rumours about in-game microtransactions following a leak during the alpha testing of Amazon’s new MMORPG New World.
An update introduced a storefront that offered “special cosmetic items for players and their in-game homes” and, according to the notes, “may sell quality-of-life items or boosts that will help players improve their time spent leveling up their character and trade skill experience.”
“Our plan is not, and never will be, to create a feeling that store items are necessary to enjoy the game,” said Lawrence’s statement, and now a Q+A with creative director David Verfaillie has confirmed that stance.
Please read this letter regarding the storefront testing we are currently doing in Alpha. pic.twitter.com/IucMciGWC1
— New World (@playnewworld) May 15, 2021
“We recently made an announcement that there will be an in-game store that uses a premium currency that you can buy for real money. The focus for that will be cosmetic items that you can use to enhance the visuals of your character,” Verfaillie said in response to a question from Eurogamer.
“We have definitely heard the feedback from players,” he continued. “Our focus is we do not want this to be a pay-to-win experience. We’re listening to players. We believe there is room for quality of life improvements in this game without crossing into the pay-to-win territory – that is something we will not do.
When pushed on what these paid quality of live improvements would be, Verfaillie suggested additional storage but added “the things we would do, we also want to be possible in-game. But we’re going to be listening to players, making sure we are respecting them and not crossing that line.”
New World launches August 31.
In other news, collectors don’t think the record-breaking $1.56million price tag for a pristine copy of ‘Super Mario 64’ is too high, with one suggesting “you almost can’t pay too much for sealed games”
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