New World: Aeternum and the Review-Bombing for its Closure
Players did not take the news well
New World: Aeternum has been in the spotlight for 4 years and although it had – like many MMOs after all – a lukewarm start, it generally managed to hold its own... at least until this week when Amazon Games Studios announced the end of support.
No game is eternal, and ever since Amazon – like unfortunately many other publishers – decided to downsize its Gaming division (with the layoff of 14,000 employees), no one was truly surprised that the plug on New World: Aeternum might be pulled.
...almost no one.
The players who still assiduously populate [or perhaps we should say: "populated"?] the MMO's servers did not appreciate the news at all, especially considering that the game was growing and that the latest major update, titled Nighthaven, had been released just 10 days prior.
Amazon Games Studios Targeted on Steam
As a consequence, many flocked to the game's Steam page to flood it with negative reviews aimed not at the product's quality, bugs, or connection difficulties, but rather at the simple fact that Amazon showed no respect for its user base. Here are some examples:
"They're shutting it down, the game is dead. Run while you still can. AGS incompetent to the core."
"Years wasted, a disgrace. AGS legendary incompetents. Game with huge potential ruined by a bunch of incompetents. Will Amazon compensate everyone?!?!?! A total SCAM!"
"After making so many players buy the game, they decide to shut everything down in 2026, a disrespectful attitude towards those who spent €100 on this game. You should at least give us the option to play it offline so we don't completely lose the money spent and invested to support you.
Truly a TERRIBLE and disrespectful attitude towards the players who believed in your project!"
"TOTAL SCAM. This is the first review I've written on Steam. They made the expansion free, and I bought the game for €60 10 days ago because of the various improvements I had read about and the happy community. Now, less than a month after the launch of the new expansion (which surely attracted new players like me who spent €60 on the game), they announce they're shutting everything down! And STEAM DOESN'T REFUND!!!!. SCAM SCAM SCAM"
New World: Aeternum - What Happens Now?
Currently, New World: Aeternum is still purchasable and playable: all additional content is equally available on stores – not just Steam but also PlayStation and Xbox – and the servers will be active until a "generic 2026," which unfortunately doesn't tell us if we're talking about a dozen months or just a couple. Amazon Games Studios have assured that they will continue to release patches and bug-fixes, but that no further expansions will be put into development.
This means that those who already own the game can – for now – continue to play it normally, while those who haven't bought it yet should probably carefully consider paying full price for a product that, at best, has a year of life left. Furthermore, given the untimely manner in which Amazon communicated the project's closure, we would be even less surprised if the announcement of the definitive server shutdown came with similarly short notice...