Role-Playing Games of the 2020s, Part 3 Codexery

New World

An MMORPG set in a 17th-century fantasy land where all become immortal.

Last updated

Amazon Games Orange County developed and Amazon Games published the MMORPG titled New World, which launched globally on September 28, 2021.[1] Metacritic's aggregated reviews for New World fell into the "mixed or average" category, and the title earned a nomination for Best Multiplayer Game at the 2021 Game Awards.[2]

Making and release

TwitchCon in September 2016 served as the venue for New World's initial public reveal.[3] Initially conceived as a free-to-play title, the monetization approach shifted to a conventional paid purchase model in 2019.[4] Individuals who had registered for the game before that business model change were granted complimentary copies.[4] A closed beta phase for the game commenced on July 20, 2021.[5]

The worldwide release and publication of New World by Amazon Game Studios occurred on September 28, 2021.[6] Steam's concurrent player count for New World surpassed 700,000 on its launch day.[7] Console editions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, branded as New World: Aeternum, became available on October 15, 2024.[8]

What the cited sources add

Amazon committed to keeping the New World servers "live through 2026"[9] Players theorized that the absence of an FPS limit on menu screens caused GPUs to render over 9000 frames per second.[10] Amazon Games issued a statement saying the closed beta was safe to play and that they had seen "no indication of widespread issues with 3090s".[11] Amazon Games declared in October 2025 that after Season 10 and the Nighthaven update, no further content updates would be produced for New World, explaining that ongoing support with new content was "no longer sustainable."[9]

On January 15, 2026, the game was removed from digital storefronts; it was also stated that in-game currency purchases would end on July 20, and the servers would be permanently shut down on January 31, 2027.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "New World Update", New World, July 10, 2020; Alex, "Amazon's New World MMO delayed into 2021", JoyFreak, July 11, 2020; Minotti, "Amazon's New World delayed to August 31", VentureBeat, February 16, 2021; McWhertor, "Amazon delays its MMO, New World, due to coronavirus lockdown", Polygon, April 9, 2020; Conditt, "Amazon's supernatural colonialism MMO 'New World' lands in May 2020", Engadget, December 12, 2019; Campbell, "Amazons questionable MMO has you colonize the new world", Polygon, February 8, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "New World for PC Reviews", Metacritic; Ankers, "The Game Awards Nominations Announced", IGN, November 16, 2021; Jones, "New World is already the fifth most-played Steam game ever", GamesRadar+, September 28, 2021; Coulson, "New World is Still One of the Most-Played Games on Steam", Game Rant, October 19, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Furniss, "Is Breakaway Appealing To More Than Streamers?", Rock, Paper, Shotgun, October 2, 2016; Olivetti, "Amazon Game Studio's Breakaway is officially dead", MassivelyOP, March 31, 2018; "Final Crucible Developer Update", Crucible, October 9, 2020; Bankhurst, "Amazon's Crucible Is Shutting Down in November 2020", IGN, October 10, 2020; Minotti, "Amazon's New World delayed to August 31", VentureBeat, February 16, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Webb, "Amazon's new video game costs $40, but some players who signed up years before launch will get it for free", Business Insider, December 13, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lowry, "Amazon's New World is brutally bricking RTX 3090 graphics cards", Windows Central, July 21, 2021; Wood, "Amazon Games insists New World is safe to play despite reports of the MMO bricking some 3090 GPUs", GamesRadar+, July 21, 2021; James, "Amazon's New World MMO is reportedly killing $1,500 Nvidia GPUs", July 21, 2021; Lyles, "Amazon Finds No Connection Between New World Beta and Bricked RTX 3090 Graphics Cards, Issues Fix Anyway", IGN India, July 21, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Talbot, "New World release time – here are the MMORPG's server live times", PCGamesN, September 27, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goslin, "New World's launch is proving too popular for its servers, but Amazon has a plan", Polygon, September 29, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "New World (video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yin-Poole, "Amazon MMO New World: Aeternum Confirmed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S", IGN, June 7, 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Chalk, "New World is dead: Amazon ends new content updates following massive layoffs, says 'servers will be live through 2026'", PC Gamer, 2025-10-28. facts only, no text reused. pcgamer.com
  10. Lowry, "Amazon's New World is brutally bricking RTX 3090 graphics cards", Windows Central, July 21, 2021. facts only, no text reused. windowscentral.com
  11. Wood, "Amazon Games insists New World is safe to play despite reports of the MMO bricking some 3090 GPUs", GamesRadar+, July 21, 2021. facts only, no text reused. gamesradar.com
  12. Notis, "Amazon's New World MMO is the latest game to get delisted", Polygon, 15 January 2026. facts only, no text reused. polygon.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article New World (video game) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was "New World" first released?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2021.

2. Which company developed "New World"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Amazon Games Orange County.

3. Which company published "New World"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Amazon Games.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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