The story of New World is a rollercoaster. After the developers announced that the game would die, there are now surprisingly new updates for players.
When will New World die? On January 15, 2026, the developer of New World announced, that the MMORPG from Amazon will go offline on January 31, 2027. But that did not stop some players from spending more time in Aeternum.
According to steamdb.info, New World still has around 1,000 players daily (as of February 27, 2026, at 10:40 AM). The player numbers on consoles (PS5 and Xbox) are not known, however. Now, the developers want to release a series of updates aimed at improving the grind for players.
What are these updates? After the unfinished daggers came as weapons into the game, there was a quiet period for the MMORPG. On the official Discord server, the developers announced 3 major updates (via mmorpg.com).
These will be released in March, April, and May 2026. Each of these updates is intended to bring improvements for the remaining players, so they can enjoy their last days in Aeternum.
In October 2025, New World experienced a significant upswing with the Nighthaven update. MeinMMO expert Karsten Scholz analyzed the brief success:
Finally, broken Steam achievements are being distributed
What does the update in March bring? With the first part of the updates in March, the developers want to fix a bug that prevented some players from receiving achievements on Steam.
Additionally, all transmogrification equipment will be unlocked, and players can now own up to 30 equipment sets. The catch is that 27 of these sets still need to be purchased with real money.
Furthermore, the transfer to other regions will be implemented. Until now, the token for server transfer cost around 15 US dollars. Whether the new transfer is now free is not known.
Many improvements in April for New World
What does the update in April bring? The second update increases some limits of game systems so that the remaining players can grind even more. For example, the gold limit for casual traders will be increased from 500,000 to a whopping 10 million.
Besides the maximum gold, the progress for better gear will also be made easier. With Umbral, armor values can be improved, which will also receive a higher limit starting in April. Similarly, the maximum Gypsum will be increased, with which additional equipment chests can be obtained.
Players see hardly any reason to grind: Most players enjoy grinding MMORPGs when they know that their progress will remain in the vast online world. In a dying MMORPG like New World, many see no reason to continue playing:
About half of you told us, that you have already stopped playing New World or want to stop.
The update in May is not supposed to be the last one
What does the update in May bring? The last announced update is supposed to increase another limit. The mutations dungeons are among the most challenging content in New World. However, players only had a limited number per week to obtain loot, such as the Umbrals. This limit will be increased to 100 dungeons per week in May.
There is also news for solo players. The Soul Trials, a solo PVE instance, can finally be challenged every 6 hours. There, you defeat various bosses to earn legendary loot.
Why is this not supposed to be the last update? The developers added to the message on Discord that they want to continue responding to player feedback. This is intended to further enhance the last months of New World.
All these updates are nice, but they could have perhaps contributed to attracting more active players if they were implemented earlier. MeinMMO author Nico is also saddened by every news regarding the death of New World, as it was one of the best MMORPGs for him, despite some flaws: Amazon’s first MMORPG for Steam is considered a disappointment, but one thing was perfect
