With news about mass layoffs in some corporate areas of Amazonthe company also turned its baleful eye on its gaming division and announced that their MMORPG New World will no longer receive content updates following the conclusion of the recently released Season 10: Nighthaven content.
This is not yet a notice of termination of service, as the accompanying FAQ states that the servers will remain operational until at least 2026, and they will provide at least six months’ notice of server shutdowns. For this reason, and due to the planned gradual release of Nighthaven’s seasonal content, New World remains for sale and is part of the PS Plus library, and the microtransaction currency will continue to be available, although the game’s appeal and player base will undoubtedly decline in the coming months.
We are also anxiously awaiting news about the future of Amazon Game Studios….
New World arrived with a bang in 2021 when Amazon launched its colonial fantasy MMORPG on PC, reaching a massive peak with over 900,000 concurrent players pushing the servers to capacity. After such a forceful start, the player base (via SteamDB) dropped by early 2022, but in its first annual surge it reached a up-to-date high of over 130,000. There may have been high hopes internally for the console port’s potential that arrived with the game’s overhaul last September in the form of New World: Aeternum, but at least on PC the game has spent much of this year with a daily peak player count of just under 10,000, which rose to 50,000 with the up-to-date Nighthaven update. That’s roughly on par with Fallout 76 or Elder Scrolls: Online, so it could easily be maintained depending on development spending, but it’s half of what Destiny 2 typically is these days, and that game is widely considered to be in solemn trouble.
The announcement reads:
As New World celebrates its fourth anniversary on PC, we look back on the incredible journey shaped by our dedicated gaming community. Your opinions and passion have played a key role in the evolution of Aeternum into the world it is today, and our team is deeply grateful for this adventure together. After four years of constant content updates and the release of a major up-to-date console version, we have reached a point where it is no longer sustainable to continue supporting the game with up-to-date content updates.
The recently released Season 10 and Nighthaven update will be the final content release for New World on PC and consoles. Only after careful consideration did we make this decision. To thank the New World community for your support over the years, we’ve made Nighthaven available to you for free. To ensure all New World players can experience this content, we’ve also made Rise of the Angry Earth free for all PC players.
We will provide more details on what to expect and other relevant information in the coming months. Rest assured, our intention is to keep the servers running until 2026, giving our community time to continue their adventures in Aeternum. Additionally, New World: Aeternum will continue to be available for download for PlayStation Plus (Extra and Premium) members.
Aeternum Players: Your dedication and enthusiasm have made your adventure in the New World an unforgettable journey. We are deeply grateful for every moment you have spent helping to build this extraordinary world with us. It has been an honor to share Aeternum with you. Thank you for helping us make this game something truly special.
Head here for full FAQ regarding the future of the game.
