A link is just a link, except when it's in New World chat.

Amazon Games has fixed an exploit in their global chat system that would allow some users to send messages that could potentially crash game clients for other users. A new exploit found that users were able to send malicious messages that contained links. Once clicked the links would either show disruptive images or hidden code that could crash the game.

Yesterday, some users began to notice the exploit in action. It started out fairly innocently with users linking massive depictions of in-game items such as giant sausages or raw chicken. Of course, it didn't really take long for some people to take things to the obvious endgame. A video outlining this exploit was posted to YouTube from Josh Strife Hayes.


In short, users were able to put some code into the embedded chat link that would crash your game simply by hovering over it with your mouse. Not only were people able to crash the game client, but they were also able to start posting images besides the art that was already present in the game. One Reddit user says that they "flashbanged" by giant yellow squares that covered their view.


Fortunately, Amazon Games has resolved this issue. A forum post from the team says that the patch was rolled out to all servers in all regions. While it should be safe to read the Barrens-like wildlands that is global chat, you may want to keep on your toes in case a new exploit is discovered.