Amazon disables New World 'wealth transfers' to fight gold dupe exploit

(Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon has temporarily disabled all forms of wealth transfer in its new MMO New World, including player-to-player transfers, guild treasuries, sending currency, and trading posts, because of a "possible gold duplication exploit." It is now investigating the issue and said that wealth transfers will be restored once it has a handle on things.

Naturally, it also warned of dire consequences for taking advantage of this exploit: "Any player that has engaged in the use of this exploit will be actioned against."

The post doesn't explain how to take advantage of the duplication bug, which is not at all surprising, nor is it clear whether this is the same exploit as the one reported a couple of weeks ago: At least one Reddit thread claims that this exploit has been around since the New World beta, but others on Reddit and in the New World forums say it's entirely new.

The gold duplication exploit is the latest in a series of issues Amazon's popular MMO has faced since it went live at the end of September. In mid-October, players discovered an easy-to-use invincibility exploit, and then last week they figured out how to crash the game by sending HTML code through chat. There have also been complaints about New World's economy: Amazon said recently that reports of a "currency crisis" forcing players to resort to bartering were overstated, but a sudden, massive influx of gold could throw things into disarray. (Even though, ironically, a spiralling currency drain is purportedly the underlying cause of that problem.)

Amazon said that it will update the announcement post when wealth transfers in New World are reactivated. There's currently no indication as to when that might happen, but I can't imagine it'll want to leave things stuck for too long. I've reached out for more information on the exploit and will update if I receive a reply.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.