Amazon Games is phasing out its popular MMORPG New World in a move that marks a significant shift away from the genre. The decision comes as part of widespread layoffs across the company, which has been dialing back work on big-budget games.
In a blog post, Amazon announced that it would no longer support New World with new content updates, citing sustainability reasons. The game's final update, Season 10 and Nighthaven, will be released in the coming months. While players will still be able to purchase the game for now, it is unclear how long this will continue.
The decision highlights Amazon's evolving focus away from MMORPGs. According to an unnamed source, former employees at New World and a Lord of the Rings MMO were laid off alongside other staff members in the games division.
Amazon had initially invested heavily in the MMO genre with the launch of New World in 2021. However, the company has since shifted its focus towards more casual and AI-focused games for its Luna cloud service. Games such as Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg are being released under this new umbrella.
New World remains a popular game, with peaks of nearly 50,000 concurrent players on Steam and a peak player count of 914,000 at launch. Despite this, Amazon's decision to wind down support for the game marks a significant shift in the company's approach to MMORPGs.
In a blog post, Amazon announced that it would no longer support New World with new content updates, citing sustainability reasons. The game's final update, Season 10 and Nighthaven, will be released in the coming months. While players will still be able to purchase the game for now, it is unclear how long this will continue.
The decision highlights Amazon's evolving focus away from MMORPGs. According to an unnamed source, former employees at New World and a Lord of the Rings MMO were laid off alongside other staff members in the games division.
Amazon had initially invested heavily in the MMO genre with the launch of New World in 2021. However, the company has since shifted its focus towards more casual and AI-focused games for its Luna cloud service. Games such as Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg are being released under this new umbrella.
New World remains a popular game, with peaks of nearly 50,000 concurrent players on Steam and a peak player count of 914,000 at launch. Despite this, Amazon's decision to wind down support for the game marks a significant shift in the company's approach to MMORPGs.
can't believe amazon is phasing out new world 
my fave mmorpg ever lol it was so hyped back in 2021 but it's been slowwwwww ever since they shifted their focus to more casual games like courtroom chaos starring snoop dogg 
what even is that game? 
anyway, i'm super bummed about new world getting the axe 
at least we get a chance to buy the game for now and play it out before it's gone forever 
. amazon just keeps dialing back their investment in mmos and it's sad because they were doing something right with new world 
. now they're all about casual games and ai stuff, which is cool for some people but not for ppl like me who actually care about deep gaming experiences 
. season 10 and nighthaven better be a good one or else i'm gonna be super salty 
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. I mean, New World was never really my thing anyway. It just felt like another cash-grab MMO from a big corp trying to get in on the trend. And now they're just abandoning ship? Not exactly the most reassuring move for players who invested so much time and money into the game 
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but I guess Amazon's tryin' to pivot towards more chill games that don't require as much upkeep, you feel? like they're focusin' on buildin' a community around their Luna service instead of investin' in big-budget MMORPGs 
it's sad to see New World go, but at the same time I'm excited to see what else Amazon has cookin' 
maybe we'll get some new IPs that are just as lit 
I mean Amazon was all about New World like it was their baby but now they're just gonna phase it out and move on? 
It's like they lost interest or something. I get it, sustainability reasons and all that but still, you'd think they'd want to keep a game with such a dedicated player base happy. 50k concurrent players is no joke! 
What's next? Is Amazon just gonna disappear from the gaming scene altogether? It's a shame because New World had so much potential and it was actually pretty fun to play too 
season 10 and nighthaven is comin tho so i guess dat's somethin to hold us over 
. not sure what's wrong with dat but new world was def a highlight of my gaming year 
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anyway, i was thinking if they wanna bring back their mmorpg game, they should think about revamping it a bit, maybe add some new features or something to make it more appealing to the old and new players 
... it's hard to accept. New World was like that for me too - I spent so many hours exploring its vast world, crafting stuff, and fighting monsters with my friends. But life goes on, and companies gotta make decisions based on what's best for them, I guess.
. i guess with all these layoffs and stuff, amazon's trying to pivot towards other things... courtroom chaos 
even though Amazon says it's due to sustainability reasons, it still feels like a bummer 
50k concurrent players on Steam? That's not something you can just abandon. And what's with all these layoffs 
Amazon was all in on New World when they first launched it back in 2021 and now look at them - suddenly it's not worth investing in. And I'm not even sure why they're doing this, some sustainability reason or whatever 
, can't say i blame them though, games are like pets and they need attention or else they get left behind 
, but what's up with all the layoffs tho? does amazon not have any more doggos to hire? 