Christmas is cancelled
Gamers around the globe (and within our home) were shocked and devastated by the announcement that Amazon has decimated the Amazon Games Studio workforce and ceased production of new content for New World: Aeternum. On the heels of a successful and beautiful Season 10 update, this news was difficult to absorb and comprehend. But, in hindsight, signs such as the early release of Nighthaven as free content, the quiet decision to make Rise of the Angry Earth free, the attempted closure of our region, and the recent lack of new servers being added despite high queues should have provided all the clues we needed. As a website solely dedicated to the documentation of New World culture, where does this news leave us and our community?
Contents
What is happening with New World?
The first thing to understand is that while the Dev Team have been destroyed, the game servers are still online and available.
Can I still play/is it worth it?
As of writing this post, New World is still open to play until further notice. It was stated that servers are intended to keep running through 2026, and there will be at least 6 months notice of any changes to server availability.
There is much community speculation as to what the future looks like for the game and its players; will servers get sunsetted? Is New World up for auction? Could we buy it as a crowd-funded player co-op and hire back all the devs? All we know is that while there will be a small team managing bug fixes, no new content will be added to the game.
FAQ Answers
- New World: Aeternum is still be available for purchase.
- Previous players can still download and reinstall the game.
- In-game currency is still available for purchase and use.
- Bug-fixes and maintenance are intended to be continued.
- World bosses, bonus weeks and some seasonal events will continue.
- Christmas is cancelled (along with all holiday events).
What is the impact on the Organ?
Creating Organ content around New World forms a large part of our leisure time, and this change impacts us significantly.
Continued support of New World
While the population of Aeternum is sure to plummet, we cannot simply let go of this game. The Utopian Organ will continue reporting on New World News, although it is likely to become more community focused rather than anything official. We will continue to add to and maintain the site content to provide a deeper historical record of the beauty of the game as well as our personal experiences.
If you have a story you would like to share, please get in contact with us. On top of creating a rich repository of information, sharing stories can help us process our grief.
New games on the horizon
The current contributors of The Organ are particularly focused on MMORPGs, of which there are not many new and available on the market. We will be keeping our eye out for anything interesting coming out, but New World leaves a big shoe to fill.
Utopian Organ road map
We had a lot of projects on the go and decided we want to continue working on them.
- Collection of player stories documenting the history of New World.
- Choose Your Own Adventure game guide series.
- Fashion and furniture articles.
- Loremasters series exploring New World lore.
- Finish updating guides for Season 10.
- Continued reporting of mutation rotations.
- In-game photography projects.
- Fortune Fiona’s travel journal.
Statements from contributors
Everyone processes bad news in different ways. Here are our perspectives.
Lish
The news of New World’s retirement came at an incredibly unfortunate time for me; all my school assessments are due in the coming weeks. This news feels like a betrayal of the beautiful game that New World was finally becoming. I had never been so excited for the future, and so invested in the world.
It is obvious why this has happened. The New World team has stumbled time and time again, but it felt like they were finally making good, correct decisions. Their past mistakes created a reputation uninviting to new or returning players, so to see how successful Nighthaven was could be seen as incredible improvement, even if it clearly did not hit its goals.
The loyal community has a right to be upset with this decision. It is devastating that a world that people have spent countless hours in can just be demolished overnight (even if that “overnight” has 6 months warning). I would say that it is unproductive to quit playing now, as there is almost no change to practical gameplay for the conceivable future, and just proves that the game was destined to fall.
I plan to continue playing New World until the end of its life. I definitely dabble in other games, but I always find my way back home to Aeternum, it’s where my family is.
In a way, I am excited to see how this shapes the in-game community. Delos is no stranger to low population servers. I enjoy the way that you recognise everyone in the chat, know what different people like to do, and see recurring faces around towns. There is a comfort in a closer-knit community.
Landi
This news makes me feel like we need to start a movement for the rights of persistent online game worlds. While Amazon owns the intellectual property and a huge team of artists, programmers, and game designers have built the world, the players and the community are what brings it to life. This decision makes it very clear that we have no rights in a world that we invest our time and effort into. It doesn’t feel fair that a mega-company can simply take our world away from us and we have no recourse.
On the other hand, I do feel grateful that we have been given this time with the game. I received the news overnight, through broken sleep, and I dreamed that we were immediately cut off from Aeternum. To wake up to the knowledge that we have at least six months was a relief, and something I plan to make the most of.
The community have had mixed reactions, some expressing some rather dirty schadenfreude and others reeling in disbelief. The depth of work and detail, combined with hints for future development ideas, in the Nighthaven release made this more of a shock, I believe. Many players have only just found New World, or finally returned to appreciate how far it has come, so the timing feels pretty awful.
I have no plans to move to another game. New World is my world, it’s the place I like to visit at the end of day, to marvel at its beauty and share discoveries with my community. It’s a very precious place that has allowed Lish and I to bond over our mutual appreciation, which inspired the development of the Organ. I will keep playing until they close the doors.
I know that people will leave based on this change. There is a strange perception of the value of time, as if the games we play need to be meaningful for our future, rather than a joy in the present. My hope is that those who remain will have a similar philosophy to my own, people who love to play and explore and create within a beautiful online world. So our community may become much smaller, but hopefully it also emerges richer.
Narokstar
I plan to continue playing New World, the same way I have for the last four years – until they stop the servers or I find something to replace New World that interests the community we’ve built in this game.
I am a little surprised that it’s taken so long for such news to be released. There has been a steady decline in player interaction and engagement for a long time. Although, the community is taking the news much more seriously than it needs to be. Yes, this is potentially catastrophic, however right now we don’t have a definitive answer as to what the future holds.
Other games I have played, and still play, have been bought out by other gaming companies and have thrived from it. If the game gets sold and another company takes it on – fresh blood could be good.
If they do close the servers, we still have a whole year to play the existing game with all the friends we’ve made already. Don’t panic, people!
I’ve always played other games, even while playing New World. I have streamed this game exclusively, and I hope that the community that’s been built off of that sticks around while we wait to see the outcome for Aeternum, and keeps a look out for other games to move to as a family/community.
Your opinions
We would love to hear some fellow New World gamers’ opinions on this matter, so please feel encouraged to comment with your own thoughts below.
To the Devs
Lastly, we want to express our appreciation and care for the devs who lovingly built this game. Without your work, there would be no world. It is obvious how much soul went into every little detail, and the game is saturated in love. We hope you all land on your feet and go on to bigger and better projects where your immense talents are appreciated. Love to you and your families in this tough time, so close to the holiday season.
2 Responses
I just wanted to give my thoughts on the situation. It’s only fair with the news of new world, it has been difficult to comprehend, but at the end of the day, I believe everything comes to an end… at some point, you, me, video game worlds, TV shows, movies and the list goes on. However, having a deadline if the game isn’t brought out by some other company, makes me appreciate the game even more than I already did. You don’t know how much something means to you until it’s gone, or at least in this case, soon to be.
I spent the better part of 2 years away from the game. I have spent countless hours in the game, more than I can remember. I do have mixed emotions about the whole situation, and of course, like anyone, I am saddened by the announcement. 6-12 months is a long time though the number may seem small that’s 26-52 weeks that’s 182.5-365 days, I wont be remembering the game for the countless hours I spent grinding to get an horse charm, or all the house I spent understanding the games economy and how it worked and changed throughout the seasons, yes the game has had hiccups along the way, but what video game doesn’t. I will be remembering it by all the good times I have had, the funny screenshots, and random moments I have had within the game.
If it wasn’t for the new world, I wouldn’t have met some people that I now call friends, that I speak to quite regularly. I will be remembering the good times and not the bad times. I will still continue to play New World until the very second the servers go down it’s not dead till it’s dead, and I will continue to make fond memories and meet new people as I have always done.
I am heartbroken by the sudden fate of New World and—even more—by the lost connections with so many friends. I am unlikely to continue playing. Your desire to continue until the bitter end resonates with me and I fully understand and admire anyone who chooses that path. My personal viewpoint differs, although it’s possible that I could change my mind after climbing out of my deepest grief.
For me, the joy of New World was exploration and progression. There was always something to explore. At first, it was the map itself (and most recently, Nighthaven). But as I evolved as a player, I explored the game in other ways: venturing into scary PVP modes; organizing with other groups (although I never officially joined a real company); sharing my expertise to help other players, especially newcomers; offering AGS ideas and constructive criticism for game development. Crucially, even as my horizons expanded, so did the game itself. New levels, new gear, new questlines, new raids and zones, new modes like CTF and Catacombs. Now, this horizon is no longer expanding, and my excitement for the chase is gone. The thrill of the chase comes from approaching, not arriving, and the finish line is no longer elusive.
Also, let’s be frank: although Nighthaven, like the rest of the game, is a creative and artistic masterpiece, the new expansion introduces some major flaws. Gearing is now a mindless rng-then-scrap process driven by chest runs and afk farms. Crafting is decimated. Old and new perks are out of whack. The Jester spawn bug is a massive barrier to mastering Isle of Night. And now, with plummeting populations, it will be increasingly difficult to find a sufficiently large set of skilled players to enjoy the best endgame group content. If a giant patch arrived to fix all this, I might stay until the dying day. As it is, I doubt it.
I hope that players who do choose to continue in the coming months have some of their most memorable moments in Aeternum still ahead of them. The sense of wonder, the freedom, the excitement, the discovery, the laughter. We may never find another game quite like New World, and even if we did it wouldn’t be the same without all my New World friends. The idea that they will slowly disperse in the coming months, quietly vanishing from my world, is too sad. I wish I could join you in continued play. In the end, it just hurts too much right now to return to Aeternum.
I hope we find a new world together someday.