One of Amazon Gaming’s few major successes will no longer be getting new content, and will likely shut its doors entirely at the end of 2026.
New World: Aeternum is an MMO that launched four years ago where it attracted some moderate success. Since then, it has chugged away, usually bringing in 10,000-30,000 concurrent players per day on Steam, plus more on consoles. That number would spike for a while around the release of each new expansion before gradually fading away again. In other words, while it has never been a massive success, it did seem to find a dedicated audience.
Apparently, though, this is not good enough to keep the game going.
“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,” said the developers in a new post on the official website.
The recently released season 10 and Nighthaven addon will be the game’s last piece of new content, and as a thank you, the developers have making Nighthaven and Rise of the Angry Earth free to all players.
The good news is that the game’s servers will keep running throughout 2026. It’ll also remain purchasable on storefronts, although I hope the developers do make it clear to prospective new players that they are buying into a game with a shortened lifespan.
“Rest assured, our intention is to keep servers operating through 2026, allowing our community time to continue their adventures in Aeternum.”
In-game currently will also remain available.
While they don’t actually outright say that the servers will shut down at the end of 2026, it certainly seems implied.
The decision to stop supporting New World is likely tied to Amazon’s announcement that it’s cutting another 14,000 jobs. Bloomberg is reporting the number will actually be closer to 30,000. The Amazon Gaming Division is reportedly going to be hit hard, and is planning on ceasing work on first-party triple A titles.
So raise a glass to our brothers and sisters in the firing line, and to all those who have ventured forth in New World.
