From the perspective of MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz, the new Aeternum version of New World cannot have been a resounding success for Amazon Games. This was a disappointment due to the release period.
Back in July 2024, I feared that it might be a big mistake on Amazon Games’ part to release Throne and Liberty and New World Aeternum within a few weeks. After all, both MMORPGs are released equally for PC and console. And that was quite shortly after the launch of WoW: The War Within.
And in between, Lost Ark, which is also published by Amazon Games, had perhaps the most important updates in months – with fresh start-up servers that will only be available for a certain time and a new endgame level.
Who is writing here? Karsten Scholz is the MMORPG expert at MeinMMO. He has been dealing with the best genre in the world every day for 15 years. The first private contact was in 2005. Since then he has accumulated several years of playing time in various online role-playing games and has played almost every relevant genre representative of the past 20 years at least for a while.
In addition, the last four really big, well-known new releases of the year, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Silent Hill 2 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, were also in October.
The New World Aeternum launch trailer:
New World Aeternum: Well-staged gameplay trailer for launch
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Collision with announcement
While Throne and Liberty exudes the appeal of the new and promises an unusual – at least from today’s perspective – focus on the Massively, the basic gaming experience of New World has been known for more than three years. The numerous adjustments to the Aeternum version do not change this.
I therefore feared early on that New World Aeternum might get lost between all the October releases. I discussed the topic in an interview with Roxanne Sabo (Community Lead for Lost Ark at Amazon Games). Your Answer:
Each of our live games is diverse and different in many ways, including play styles, business models and locations. Lost Ark offers players a unique adventure and challenge, as do New World Aeternum and Throne and Liberty. We believe each game offers a different experience and will find its own audience, with room for players to engage with multiple.
But is that true? In my personal case, the calculation didn’t work out. I’m a big MMORPG fan and was equally interested in the revised Aeternum, the new Lost Ark patch and the new Throne and Liberty.
However, as a father of two kids and with a full-time job, I can’t pursue all of these interests. I had to prioritize in October, and Throne and Liberty (and Dragon Age: The Veilguard) usually won.
The character I created for New World Aeternum is only level 33. There hasn’t been any time for Lost Ark in the past few weeks. Many other MMORPG fans must have felt the same way. It’s a shame, jam – that’s what my 3-year-old son would say about it.
There are definitely good reasons to play New World Aeternum:
4 reasons why you should play New World: Aeternum
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How “successful” is New World Aeternum?
Due to the lack of concrete figures from Amazon Games, this cannot be said with 100% accuracy. However, there are various indicators:
We’re very pleased and encouraged by the enthusiastic response from players and critics alike, and it’s been exciting to welcome even more adventurers to the supernatural island of Aeternum.
When developers and publishers put out a post like this without concrete player numbers, they usually aren’t all that positive.
What will become of New World?
So while The Elder Scrolls Online received an enormous boost in player numbers thanks to the delayed console release in June 2015, the launch of Aeternum was, in my opinion, almost ineffectual.
If I’m right, this could be disastrous for Amazon Games’ long-term plans for New World. After all, developing an expansion like Rise of the Angry Earth is expensive. There were hardly any content updates between the addon and Aeternum. Are fans of the game headed for the next drought?
In my opinion, the chances of this happening are high. After all, there are currently eight new games in development at Amazon Games. Known are:
At the latest when Amazon Games has found the final twist for the Lord of the Rings MMORPG and begins full development, those responsible will be able to throw as many creative minds as possible onto the prestige project – and the experienced ones will almost certainly be there too Veterans from the New World team include. Do you see it that way too? More on this: There is a sign of life from the new MMORPG for Lord of the Rings from Amazon Games