Amazon Games probably envisioned something entirely different: On the occasion of the Summer Game Fest, the head of New World, Scott Lane, gave two interviews in which he raved about New World: Aeternum. The new version of New World, as an action RPG for PS5, PC, and Xbox, is said to be the “ultimate” experience. But shortly after the interviews went live, they were taken down.
What is going on with New World? Amazon announced for 6 months that there would be no new expansion for their MMORPG New World in June 2024, but a “fantastic news”. Now this news has been revealed:
- New World is transitioning from an MMORPG to an action RPG with an improved combat system and a focus on solo play
- The game will be released as New World: Aeternum on PS5 and Xbox
Hype interviews for New World: Aeternum went live but disappeared
What was said in the interviews? Last night around 8 PM, two previously conducted interviews went live. One with PCGamesN, the other with wccftech. Both interviews were quickly taken down. However, one can still be viewed via cache (via archive.org), while the other was streamed live by a Twitch streamer.
At PCGamesN, the developers of New World: Aeternum raved that it is the “ultimate experience” and the “spiritual successor to New World”. They had developed the game based on player feedback, and the 3 years of experience and partnership with players had led to the new outcome.
The key improvements include the revamped combat system. Additionally, they offer controller support, a new interface, keyboard shortcuts, and much more.
PC players are encouraged to return to New World: Aeternum to experience a new 10-player raid, solo endgame trials, and a new PvP zone. Amazon will not take anything away from the game, but only add new content.
New World: Aeternum now has less grind but still offers a challenge. Some grind is still included, as it is part of the experience, but much less than before.
Less grind than before, only half the time to max level
In the 2nd interview with wccftech, Lane echoes similar sentiments and emphasizes the many advantages of New World: Aeternum.
The game now features close-up dialogues and in-game cinematics. The path to max level is much clearer and faster, as console players prefer. And it can be played solo from start to finish. But ultimately, it is still an MMO that has had a lot of work put into it to make it feel and play more like an action RPG.
The new New World is intended to be a game that players can casually hop into. It should only take about half as long to reach max level as it did before, but once at max level, the game truly opens up, offering “lots of fun, crazy things” to do.
Interviews disappeared quickly – Was an embargo broken too early?
Why have the interviews disappeared by now? Current knowledge does not provide an answer. There are speculations on reddit that Amazon could have retracted the interviews for “damage control”.
The most likely assumption is that the embargo was broken too early, causing the articles to be taken down.
How can such an embargo breach happen? With major announcements, it is common and typical for press representatives to be informed in advance about the publisher’s plans and to have time to prepare an article that contains further information beyond the actual announcement:
- it can be a preview or even a review
- it may include interviews with the developers
- or other details that draw attention to the topic
These articles, which occur after the agreement, are subject to a general embargo and may only be released once the embargo period has expired. Especially when time zones are involved, it can occasionally happen that such an embargo is broken, that articles appear accidentally too early and then need to be taken down.
MeinMMO assumes that exactly this happened.
Currently, the mood among the “old” players of New World is tense, while Amazon is courting potential new players on consoles. On Steam, the reviews of the old New World have plummeted: The MMORPG New World is currently on fire on Steam after Amazon’s announcement: Even a player with 5,000 hours is giving up
