New World represents the ambition of a next-gen MMORPG as much as the challenges to deliver on that promise. Amazon Games’ MMO came out in 2021, and exploded in popularity at launch before losing a lot of interest due to bugs, lack of endgame content, and simply not meeting expectations.
By 2024, New World: Aeternum has been relaunched with major technical improvements, a console port, and new content. Yet, despite a recent resurgence, some players and content creators consider this moment the game’s last chance to build a significant long-term presence.
New World history
When New World first came out, players lost enthusiasm quickly as game-breaking bugs appeared repeatedly, and there were not enough end-game activities. By the end of 2021, player counts were down, and confidence in Amazon Games’ ability to run a live service MMO had faded. After that, the developers have been working to rectify the issues. Updates like the Brimstone Sands zone, gear templates, transmogrification system, new dungeons, raid groups, influence races, and 2023's Rise of the Angry Earth expansion showcased a commitment to improving the game. Nonetheless, there were mixed results, as many felt the new content came too slowly to regain interest.
So, after a lean year in terms of things for established PC players to do in Aeternum when Amazon Games introduced New World: Aeternum at Summer Game Fest 2024, its trailer was met with skepticism. The long-standing PC community saw the rebranding as an ARPG and the console port as a betrayal, feeling excluded from this long-awaited announcement. Thus, the months before the game's re-release in October saw concurrent players hit a record low (daily peaks of only a few thousand simultaneous players).
The re-release of New World: Aeternum
Despite this background with PC veterans, Amazon Games delivered New World: Aeternum as planned on October 15, with a technical overhaul, a new 10-man raid, and an FFA PvP zone. In the first weeks, the game received a generally positive response from console players, whereas the PC audience was more hesitant and waited for a plan for future updates. MMO veterans know that an initial fizz is only half of the battle. For long-term success, it is essential to maintain engagement and provide a steady stream of content.
New perspectives
As I write this, the latest developer update and roadmap have been unveiled. Amazon Games has finally revealed its vision after remaining tight-lipped for weeks. The roadmap includes several key updates to invigorate New World: Aeternum.
These announcements are interesting, especially the “In Exploration” ones, and I can easily see some becoming mainstays of New World: Aeternum. Overall, the roadmap has been well received, and I think it's perceived as at least intriguing by most players, even the most skeptical.
A last chance
Although these updates are promising, the stakes cannot be higher. The game has experienced three years of ups and downs in players' confidence, so it must now deliver. The new arrival of console players is a second chance to build a thriving community. But this chance may be the last, as today’s players are quick to lose interest when things don’t go as expected.
Amazon Games will face the challenge of catering to the needs of its PC-focused audience while building a console player base. Both groups come with different expectations and playstyles. Furthermore, Amazon ought to prove that the wisdom of the past is now learnt. A roadmap implies going for regular and free of any game-breaking bug updates, which has not really been their cup of tea until now. However, we can reasonably hope for a change in this area since the Aeternum release is now behind them. Hopefully, the studio will finally be able to focus exclusively on systems and content development.
New World: Aeternum’s future
In the developer's update, the team states that New World has always aimed for a sandpark experience. For memory, during its alpha, the game heavily focused on sandbox mechanics but, as the release got closer, they suddenly change their mind to rebrand and sell New World as a theme park MMORPG. It seems that they feel like it’s time to reevaluate that balance. Elements like influence races, tower claims, siege systems, and territory system overhauls indeed undoubtedly aim to enhance New World: Aeternum’s replayability.
Although they've managed to add variety to the activities over time, some game design problems remain. New World's contents have always been great. It's more the way the game engages players with these contents that's lacking. For instance, I consider the Wars to be one of the best iterations of guild vs. guild in MMO history. Unfortunately, the way in which guilds can declare these Wars, through a race for influence that is a faction and not a guild activity, is not very coherent. The positioning between factions and guilds is not sufficiently clear, and the game fall between two stools in this respect. Not to mention the fact that Wars, one of the game's flagship activities, have only concerned a minority of New World's overall population over the past three years.
This is just one example, but I think it's the resolution of this kind of problem that could reconcile disgruntled players with the development team. Nevertheless, these updates, if well executed and in the not-too-distant future, could lay the foundations for a renewal. If the game manages to establish a regular development cycle and capitalize on the momentum created by the arrival of the console audience, New World: Aeternum could succeed in restoring its image in the long term.
Mists of Pandaria Classic Beta Known Issues - Updated 13 June
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