New World was as soon as the crown jewel in Amazon’s rising gaming ambitions. Developed in-house, the MMO initially exploded in recognition on Steam and appeared to have respectable legs in notoriously aggressive style. Lower than 5 years later it’s formally being killed. Servers will go offline in January 2027. The information has prompted a response from many who’re uninterested in huge video games vanishing so shortly after launch, together with an government at Rust maker Facepunch Studios.
“25m, final offer Amazon Games,” the London-based firm’s COO, Alistair McFarlane, wrote in response to the information on X. “Games should never die,” he added, earlier than happening to juxtapose Amazon’s strategy to on-line video games with Facepunch’s. “As with everything we do at Facepunch, empower the community.” when somebody requested what the Rust maker shopping for New World would seem like. “Give them control, make servers publicly hostable. A game will live forever in the hands of a dedicated community.”
The writing for New World has been on the wall since final fall. Regardless of not too long ago releasing new updates and seasonal content material modifications showing to return and go as deliberate, Amazon announced in late October that the sport can be happening life help with no significant additions deliberate sooner or later. The servers would stay open and working “through 2026” to permit the neighborhood “time to continue their adventures in Aeternum.”
Video games ought to by no means die.
— Alistair McFarlane (@Alistair_McF) January 15, 2026
Whereas Amazon is technically holding up that finish of the discount, remaining followers in all probability weren’t anticipating the tech big to kick the brand new 12 months off with a full-blown dying sentence. “We want to thank the players for your dedication and passion. We are grateful for the time spent crafting the world of Aeternum with you,” an un-attributed blog post that went up on the sport’s web site this week reads. “Together we built something special. While we are saddened to say goodbye, we’re honored that we were able to share so much with the community.”
New World is now not on the market however anybody who already owns it will possibly nonetheless re-download the sport and play till January 31, 2026. Will there be any refunds? After all not. Can you continue to purchase premium in-game foreign money for actual cash? Unusually, sure. “Beginning July 20, 2026, players will no longer be able to purchase Marks of Fortune or anything else in game,” reads the brand new FAQ. Why not unlock every thing and make all money transactions within the sport free? No thought.
All of this stems from Amazon’s wider pivot away from inside sport improvement, with mass layoffs final fall that included the not solely the top of New World however seeming cuts to different initiatives together with a Lord of the Rings MMO. The corporate hasn’t confirmed if that challenge is lifeless or nonetheless being shopped round to different outdoors improvement companions. Amazon can be set to publish the upcoming Tomb Raiders video games, together with this 12 months’s Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a remake of the unique sport.
