Console players might just keep New World alive this time

New world is back. This time it’s a new, new, new world, version 3.0, the full version of New World: Aeternum for consoles and PC.

I hadn’t played the game since the release of the Brimstone Sands expansion a few years ago, so I was excited to jump onto a new server to experience the onslaught of a new MMO. Well, a new old MMO.

I entered with a hint of cynicism. The game intrigued me before, but Amazon Games worked hard. The launch experience has been completely overhauled. There are elaborate cutscenes, much better voice acting and text, and most starting zones have been improved and improved. Questing is largely the same as ever, you can get it here, but with the added polish you’d expect from New World: Aeternum’s rebranding as an “action RPG with MMO elements.”

It’s basically the perfect entry point for brand new console gamers to experience the game. I quickly got back into crafting and questing and started a new company with a few friends I used to play with. The problems of the past were temporarily forgotten. There are noticeable improvements, from quality of life changes like mounts and gear sets to a better frame rate, especially in cities surrounded by dozens of other players. All in all, the game feels better than ever. I firmly believe that if New World had been released in this state many months ago, the story of the game’s up-and-down life cycle might have been different.

And thanks to console players, the game is taking on new life. Crossplay worlds could be exactly what New World needs to stay healthy in the long term. Some of my guildmates are hardcore arena players and just a few months ago they had to wait in line for over 30 minutes for a game. We all hope that more players will help keep the servers alive and functioning. As the honeymoon phase is over and players begin to enter the endgame, the same issues as in the past may resurface: What exactly is the point of playing New World past level 65? Or maybe not – Amazon added a new 10-player raid, a PvP zone, and more replayable content like Soul Trials.

I tested the game on the controller to get a feel for it, and overall the UI optimization and PvP objective castle optimizations are great. Compared to Throne And Liberty, I think it’s a much easier game to get your head around – Throne just has so many buttons and fiddly aiming settings that anyone but the most die-hard console gamers will have trouble getting their way around. In comparison, New World offers a more casual experience with a low barrier to entry. You could spend the next two months collecting and crafting without ever having to raid, fight anyone in PvP, or ever delve into any of the MMO aspects if you don’t want to. It’s the kind of MMO experience that console gamers simply haven’t had.

At the time of writing, New World: Aeternum is hovering around the 50,000 concurrent player mark on Steam. For console gamers we could reach the 100,000 mark. It pales in comparison to the game’s original mammoth one million player launch, but what we have is a perfectly healthy number for an MMO. It just depends on what comes next. Amazon has always had to learn that the most important part of running a live service game is player retention. New World: Aeternum is definitely eye-catching in all the right places, but we’ll have to wait and see if it does enough to keep players past the two or three month mark.

I’ve written before about how I think New World: Aeternum could be the last chance saloon for the game. Some of the press surrounding the game expressed a sense of finality. This is the game, this is what you get, all it will ever be. It would be sad to see New World fail while so many other MMOs have continued to grow and improve over many years, but I understand that Amazon Games is already thinking about future projects. I expect some in-game events and patches in the coming months, but I’m not sure if we’ll ever get another major expansion. But I’m glad to be proven wrong, and I hope that a solid player base of console gamers helps keep the game going long enough for that to happen.