With New World: Aeternum, the MMORPG from Amazon Games is also scheduled to be released for PS5 and Xbox Series in October 2024. While many PC gamers are currently annoyed by the announcement, console owners can look forward to an exciting alternative to FFXIV and Elder Scrolls Online, from the perspective of MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz.
On October 15, 2024, New World will be released on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 with the new version Aeternum. So my assessment from June 4, 2024 was spot on. Like many others, however, I was surprised at how clearly the developers at Amazon Games avoided the term MMORPG in their announcement.
According to MeinMMO author Nico Hernes, this was already the case at a press presentation during the Summer Games Fest. But the official FAQ also states (via Amazon Games): “New World: Aeternum is an open-world action RPG.”
Trailer for New World Aeternum announces console version
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The PC community is raging
MeinMMO reported yesterday, June 10, 2024, that a large part of the New World community is disappointed with the announcement and the new direction. Of the 3,204 reviews from the past 30 days, only ten percent are positive. This is probably called “review bombing.”
This announcement is also being hotly debated on Reddit and in the official Discord channel. Many PC gamers would have preferred it if Amazon Games would concentrate fully on fixing existing problems and developing new content for the existing community.
This new label of open-world action RPG is also confusing. However, the developers have already made it clear that the new Aeternum version from October will belong to the same genre as New World today. The game has never been able to be perfectly classified into a genre category, according to the statement from Amazon Games.
What he was particularly impressed with about New World at launch was its unusual setting and the audiovisual quality of the game world. However, the generic theme park content that the Amazon Games team had cobbled together in far too short a time eventually drove him away from Aeternum.
New MMO fodder for consoles
I can still completely understand the criticism from the community. The communication in particular was … in need of improvement. At the same time, however, I am pleased that there will soon be a new, potentially fun alternative for MMO fans for PS5 and Xbox Series. Our top 5 best MMORPGs for PlayStation and Xbox show just how poor the offering is at the moment.
In addition to Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV and Black Desert, you’ll also find Neverwinter and DC Universe Online. All of them are okay to very good games, but they’re all at least ten years old – and some of them play much better on the PC.
New World’s combat system, on the other hand, is made for the controller. Even more so when the developers – as announced – optimize the controls and user interface for the consoles. In addition, there are the other improvements that Amazon Games has presented for Aeternum:
And don’t forget the new splitter system for New World’s servers, which allows more Aeternum heroes to play instead of getting stuck in frustrated queues. With all these improvements under my belt, I’m really looking forward to giving New World another chance in October and wreaking havoc on Aeternum from the comfort of my couch.
And if it’s not just me, then in a few months the New World servers could feel so busy that all PC players will also benefit from it (who of course will also get some of the new features listed above) – with a view to PvP, group challenges and fresh blood for their own guild.
A larger number of active players bringing in money gives Amazon Games good reasons to invest even more in New World in the future when it comes to content updates and expansions – this would also be a positive development for all PC gamers who are currently annoyed.
In my opinion, continuing to focus only on the PC version would have killed the MMORPG in the foreseeable future. What do you think: Do you criticize New World’s new path or do you hope that the game can still become a hit? You can find more information about Aeternum here: Amazon presses the reset button: New World becomes an action RPG – also for PS5 and Xbox