As we noted earlier this afternoon, Amazon slashed Amazon Games Studios hard as part of its layoffs of over 14,000 people and apparent shuttering of both the Irvine and San Diego studios responsible for New World and the unfinished Lord of the Rings MMO. Given the massive layoffs, it seemed impossible that New World would be given dev time going forward, so we were already bracing for impact.
And now that impact has arrived. The game won’t be closed or sold, but it’ll be kept around in maintenance mode, at least for now.
“After four years of steady content updates and a major new console release, we’ve reached a point where it is no longer sustainable to continue supporting the game with new content updates,” the team (?) writes.
“The recently launched Season 10 and Nighthaven update will serve as the final content release for New World on PC and consoles. It is only after much consideration that we’ve reached this decision. To thank you, the New World community, for your support over the years, we have made the Nighthaven release available to you for free. To ensure all New World players can experience this content, we also made Rise of the Angry Earth free for all PC players. In the coming months, we will provide more details on what to expect and other essential information. Rest assured, our intention is to keep servers operating through 2026, allowing our community time to continue their adventures in Aeternum. Additionally, New World: Aeternum will still be downloadable for PlayStation Plus members (Extra and Premium).”
Amazon reiterates that it is not sunsetting the game and will “provide a minimum of six months’ notice” before a sunset. According to the FAQ, the game will stay buyable [Update: MOP reader GreaterDivinity points out that it’s not buyable on Steam right now, so not sure what’s up], as will cash-shop currencies. While there won’t be content updates, the remaining devs promise to “continue to keep the game running smoothly.”
Earlier today, we reached out to Amazon PR with more questions about its other titles. We’ll update when we know more.
Update
A representative for Amazon told MassivelyOP that the company “will continue supporting Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark with regular updates and community engagement.” We had also asked about the future of the LOTR MMO. We did not receive an answer; we assume it’s toast, given what’s happened to the studio that was building it.
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