New World: Aeternum, Amazon's upcoming console release and PC revamp of its MMO, has certainly drawn some heat. A vague announcement has fans worried it's no longer an MMO but rather an ARPG.
The announcement, which was made during Summer Game Fest's 2024 showcase, is effectively a revamp of the MMO on PC, and a version packaged for console release. The upcoming New World: Aeternum will include everything that the current PC version of New World has on offer, including the recent Rise of the Angry Earth expansion, but also new content such as a dedicated, open-world PvP zone, a new 10-person raid, and more.
However, parts of the announcement were confusing, and the FAQ posted by Amazon really hasn't cleared things up.
For one thing, New World: Aeternum's developers, Amazon Games Orange County, have focused on promoting the fact that it can be played solo or co-op, which people are taking somewhat literally as two-players. Does this mean that larger groups won't be available in Aeternum? Given that there is a 10-person raid coming, I doubt it, but it's a clunky way to word grouping if it's still an MMO.
That's the kicker, though. At the time of writing, Amazon's FAQ page no longer describes New World: Aeternum as an MMO; rather, the studio calls it an "action RPG."
This one sentence could simply be semantics, describing how the action feels in New World and how it differs from a traditional tab-targeting MMO, especially when targeting a console fanbase. But it ignores all the other action combat MMOs already there, such as Black Desert and The Elder Scrolls Online.
The speculation fueling a lot of the worry comes from PCGamesN's article as well, which directly states that the MMORPG is closing and will be replaced by the ARPG. Personally, I don't see it this way as New World: Aeternum will have everything a modern MMORPG is known for, while it doesn't fit the bill of what many people (including myself) would simply call an ARPG. However, the fact that the New World website doesn't list it as an MMO first - or at all - concerns some.
Alongside the announcement, New World's developers put out a 34-minute video diving deep into what New World: Aeternum will look like for players, and in the video I'm not sure I heard any developer call it an MMO once (though, please correct me if I'm wrong out there).
However, the video breaks many of the features and content, which are very MMO-themed in nature, from its 50v50 Seiges to Outpost Rush, group content at endgame, cross-play across all three platforms at launch, the new PvP zone, and much more. If you looked at this without knowing any of the current discourse around it right now, you'd be forgiven thinking that New World: Aeternum was, in fact, an MMO.
The developers are avoiding outright calling it an MMO, which definitely seems to signal a shift in how they view their game. While this might simply be a semantic shift more than anything, it is a concern to some who feel the MMORPG genre is dying, and here is another example of a rather newcomer MMO on the scene abandoning the genre for something more "mainstream."
However, more concerning is the fact that a simple aspect of this announcement, describing fundamentally what kind of game New World: Aeternum is, is communicated in a way where players and media alike can be confused as to whether it's still an MMO or has changed entirely. This is a fundamental breakdown of how you communicate to your players, and hopefully, it's something as we head into October Amazon Games Orange County.
When New World: Aeternum hits digital shelves on October 15th, it is simply a new name for PC players, with characters, servers, and longstanding Company rivalries still ongoing as if it were October 14th. There isn't any talk of a server wipe or character reset; it is simply new content for PC players to pick up and play. For console players, it's a whole new journey to embark on, whether with a friend or solo. Either way, New World, the MMO, isn't going anywhere, regardless of what the official website now calls it.
In the interest of clarity, we have reached out to our Amazon Games PR rep for clarification on this and what it means for New World if the dev team no longer views this as an MMO. We'll be sure to update this story (or write a new one) once we hear back.
