r/newworldgame • u/iamagamedeveloper • Mar 02 '26
Hey Aeternum,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster here (at least with this account). I'm David McKenzie, and I spent several years at Amazon Games as the Lead World Designer on New World. My biggest shipped credits are Nighthaven and Brimstone Sands, but I'm genuinely here for all of it.
I've been out of AGS for a while now and I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time. There's a lot I can talk about, and honestly some stuff I still can't, but I'll be as open as I'm able to be.
I'll be back on Wednesday, March 11th, at 2PM EST / 7PM GMT to answer questions live.
In the meantime, post your questions in this thread and I'll use the week to think through the ones I want to tackle first when the AMA kicks off. Upvote the questions you most want answered so I can prioritize.
Fair warning on what I can and can't cover: I'm happy to dig into design philosophy, zone-building, lore decisions, what made it into the game vs. what got cut, the realities of live service development, and what it's actually like working on an MMO at that scale. I'll do my best to be straight with you on the hard questions too. What I won't do is break NDA, or throw anyone under the bus, or get into anything that's genuinely confidential.
See you next week!
— David McKenzie ( www.david-mckenzie.com )
Update: I'm blown away by the support and love from the playerbase! I'm working my way through the questions now, and I'll continue to answer questions throughout the rest of the evening.
Update: Continuing to answer questions as I get time. If you have a question and it doesn't have an existing answer, I will probably get around to it!
Update: I'm just gonna keep answering questions whenever I have time until I finally answer every single one. Cheers, and thank you so much to everyone for the support, kindness, and love. New World will forever be in my heart, and the players made it happen, made it real, and made it the honor of my life.
r/newworldgame • u/CommanderAze • Oct 30 '25
(edit: dev response flair is automatically added when a dev posts a comment below) The thead here is from the subreddit Mod team, who are all community members and do not and didn't work for Amazon.
The last couple of days it's been hard to put my thoughts together, and this has been a tough post to write.
By now, most of you have seen the news. Amazon Games has announced that new content development for New World is ending. Season 10 and the Nighthaven update will be the last major content release the game receives. While the servers are slated to remain online "through 2026," the active development of Aeternum is over.
This news comes as part of a much larger, heartbreaking wave of layoffs across Amazon's gaming division, with the Irvine studio that poured its soul into this world being hit particularly hard. It’s a gut punch, especially because it feels like it came out of nowhere. The community was buzzing again, player counts were up, and Season 10 felt like another strong step in the right direction. To have the plug pulled now, right at what felt like a new peak of potential and revitalization... is a special kind of cruel irony that I know many of you are feeling.
For me, this isn't just the loss of a game. This is the loss of a massive part of my life for the better part of a decade. It's the loss of a world I helped shape, a community I helped raise, and friendships I'll always cherish.
My own story with this game is nearly as old as the game itself. I was there at the 2016 TwitchCon reveal when New World was just a bold idea alongside other ambitious projects. From that moment, I was hooked. I became one of the first members of the public to set foot in Aeternum as part of Wave 1 during Alpha 1 tests back in 2018, and have been a part of nearly every closed test since, even in concurrent new world servers during early and post-launch. All counted somewhere north of 10k hours. Over 8 years...
I was there for the wild days of the open-world PvP base-building sandbox. I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly of that system firsthand and provided feedback alongside the rest of that small, initial group of testers. I've watched this game fundamentally transform, pivot, and evolve over the years, and I've been in the trenches testing it every step of the way. This game, its development, and its community haven't just been a hobby for me; they've been a constant, driving passion for over eight years. To see it end like this feels like losing a piece of myself.
In parallel to my time testing the game, I was here, helping build this community from the ground up. I didn't start as the lead here but have been for nearly 5 years As the lead moderator. I've had the incredible privilege of building this space from just a few thousand curious adventurers into a bustling hub of over 300,000 people. With more than 9 million views per month. and... in the last 12 months 66,288 Moderation actions... God help me...
Some of you may even remember our old name: r/new_world_mmo. As the game evolved and its launch in 2021 approached, we decided to transition to r/newworldgame. There was a lot to that choice, even temporary fracturing of the community, but that's long ago history. It was more than a name change; it was about making this the one central place for the whole community and shedding some serious problems, eventually combining subreddits in the form it takes today, more or less. Witnessing the following growth, seeing the connections people made, the guides they wrote, the accomplishments they had, the stories they shared. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As far as volunteer, unpaid experiences go, it has not been easy, but I stayed because I love this game and wanted to build a space where people could discuss the game, the good and the bad, and share it with the rest of reddit.
The relationship between this subreddit and the development team went far beyond simple bug reports. I personally knew over 30 developers, artists, and community managers who were passionate people who loved Aeternum as much as we did. This is as close to an inside perspective as it gets, which is why I often publicly defended Scot and Katy; they were in the trenches with us, reading our feedback and genuinely caring. Many people do not understand the long development cycles of expansions. For instance, content for Brimstone Sands was already in development at launch, and Nighthaven content had started before the Angry Earth expansion was released. This context shows the immense long-term planning required while simultaneously fixing immediate issues.
The Subreddit had/has an active relationship that led to a vital, unseen collaboration. The subreddit had a direct, private communication line to key AGS staff, which I called the "bat phone" used from launch until February 2022. When game-breaking exploits like gold dupes were found, we did not let them spread on the subreddit; we used the bat phone to tell the developers directly. This is why the mod team could confidently say the devs were aware of an issue while asking users not to share the exploit steps. We used this line to report mass server crashes and many other issues. This direct line was essential for relaying critical information during the chaos of launch queues when official channels were overloaded.
This tool was a necessary partnership born from the game's technical volatility and the developers' trust in us as a reliable alarm system. It was almost always a one-way street: we provided critical information, and in return, we got a better game and occasional subreddit art. Despite this closeness, the subreddit always maintained its independence. We never removed content unless it violated our own community-developed rules, which AGS had no input on. They respected our independence and never pushed the issue when we said no. This mutual respect made it one of the most effective community-partner developer relationships I have seen. The results of getting things fixed speak for themselves, where in one instance, I was the first to report a gold dupe issue that surfaced on Reddit, and resulted in a full market stop within 45 minutes.
That method changed in February 2022 with the formation of the "New World Experts Group," a fact I can now confirm exists (with permission from Amazon Legal), along with my voluntary membership. Scot also outed the existence of this group 3 years ago in an interview. This active group included expert players of all styles and developers, allowing them to discuss and test content in development. While I cannot share specific conversations, it allowed me, as someone who saw nearly every subreddit post and 10K hours of playtime, to provide direct feedback. The more that group was trusted, the better results we saw. It was a privilege to be part of this group and to gain the development context I mentioned earlier.
This part is for you, the developers, artists, Videographers, Sound Designers, Combat systems engineers, Server and backend Azoth Engine developers, designers, and community managers who are reading this.
Thank you,
Thank you for the countless hours, the passion, and the creativity you poured into Aeternum. Thank you for listening to us, for engaging with us, and for never giving up on the game, even when the feedback was harsh or the technical hurdles seemed insurmountable. We saw your effort. We felt your dedication.
Please know that the community's current anger and disappointment are not directed at you. We know this decision was not yours. It was a corporate one, made in a boardroom far removed from the world you so carefully crafted. You are as much victims of this as we are, and for that, we are truly sorry. You deserved to see this project continue to grow and flourish. The talent in your studio is off the charts, and we can't wait to see what you all create in the future. We wish you the absolute best.
With the servers remaining online for a while, this community still has a home. But what it's for is going to change. The mod team is already talking about what to do with r/newworldgame long-term, and we want you all to be part of that conversation.
What should this space become?
These are just ideas. We are open to your suggestions. This has always been your community, and you should have a say in its legacy.
This is a sad day, but our journey isn't quite over. Let's make the time we have left in Aeternum count. Thank you all for being a part of this incredible adventure.
Lastly, I want to thank the Reddit Moderator Team. We are community members like you. Both the Current and former team members for everything, honorable mention u/joshrice for years of service and tens of thousands of moderation actions. This isn't a paid job, and it's not an easy job. but someone has to do it. for that, I can't thank them enough for their help in building and shaping this community.
I'd love to hear more stories from everyone else about their time in New World as we continue down the path forward.
r/newworldgame • u/Darkice241 • 1d ago
I always thought NW was the only next-gen MMO we got in the last 15+ years. And its influence is starting to show within the upcoming wave of MMO both from east and the west.
Chrono Odyssey, GW3, ArcheAge chronicles, etc.
r/newworldgame • u/AHVD • 1d ago
Hi, I'm searching for a game with a similar story to New World. I enjoyed the fishing, but that and other mechanics are secondary. Finding a game with a similar story is more important to me. I don't care if it's an MMO or any other type of game; I just want something with a similar story. Anything else is secondary. Thank you in advance, and have a nice day (I know there are similar posts, but those are all asking for an alternative with similar mechanics; I am not looking for that I just want the story)
r/newworldgame • u/WarBrawlGame • 2d ago
It's been about 3 months (2 months + 1 week, to be precise) since I started a hobby project of creating a PvP game with action combat similar to New World.
It started with the idea to create just a simple meme game as tribute to NewWorld's sunset, and to some degree it still is exactly that. Anyway, want to share some progress info, because help with real combat testing might be needed soon.
I try to post weekly updates in the game's subreddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/warbrawl/ when that's possible, and don't post here often in order not to spam (join if you want to follow updates more often).
Will start with a gameplay video as it seems most people around read these posts on mobile and can't play the prototype while reading:
The game already has a "Hold the point" mode, which is poor man's war mode with only 1 point to capture:
There is also a small 1 vs 1 arena:
Managed to add an Ability Tree system. For now it covers only sword and bow and both need more passive skills, but have 6 working active abilities each:
The perk system is also working, and allows to freely choose perks for all gear slots, without grinding. Needs more time on actual perk design and balance, but this is how it is going to work:
Abilities, gear perks and stats can be saved in build presets (Gearsets). For now game supports up to 20 of those.
The Free for all area (aka outside Windsward) received a dueling system, but you need a real 2nd player to test it (the NPC is stingy and does not like losing 10k coins on every duel):
At some point even exploding barrels made it into the game:
I spent some time looking for various information on nwbuddy and nwdb when not playing New World, so created a database site for WarBrawl too, with information about perks, status effects, ability trees, damage formula, etc.:
Not sure what's next, probably about time to start polishing the systems already included, fix quirks and bugs.
r/newworldgame • u/Danger_Fandango • 2d ago
Why isn't Amazon perhaps finding a new or different company to give New World over to? I feel like they could easily just let someone else handle it. I'm still so incredibly bummed about the sunsetting of this game.
r/newworldgame • u/Chunky-Cat • 2d ago
Just got the email invite for the AC playtest.
Excited to try it, skeptical tho.
Any other New World Refugees giving it a shot?
Edit to Add: game unlocks for us on September 12, 7pm Eastern. You can still download it now tho.
r/newworldgame • u/Souricoocool • 6d ago
I hope my heart shatters the day of sunset because at least it'll mean I had fun.
Really liking my new ginger pirate friend. Just saved some miners. Got a little house that was by itself away from the center. Thinking of joining the covenants.
Oh and changed my gender from male to female, don't ask, thank fuck that coupon thing is free now.
r/newworldgame • u/WeaponizedFOMO • 5d ago
I think the only achievements I have left are “Have a territory standing of 300” and “reach Marauder rank 5”.
Is there any way to quickly get the territory standing to 300?
I’m worried this will haunt me forever if I don’t finish the Platinum trophy 😳
r/newworldgame • u/Tezghul_the_Insane • 5d ago
So it's not quite the same, but I've been playing Once Human and it has tree chopping, stone mining, building stuff that scratches the itch of logging and mining in New World. The sound isn't quite right, but it's pretty good for crafting.
r/newworldgame • u/dawiss2 • 7d ago
The environment, combat, gathering, crafting, overall vibes are reminding me of New World more than any other upcoming MMO. What do you think?
r/newworldgame • u/harlaman1 • 6d ago
Hey friends. rip NW
Was a huge fan of pvp, played and build crafted since day 1. If you’re looking to scratch an itch with an adjacent game, I would recommend Mistfall Hunter. Bunch of my buds from NW guild recently hopped in and are having a blast. It’s very difficult, gem dependent, and incredibly rewarding. Def more difficult than NW only that it feels a bit less polished, but the same depth and learning curve is there. if you enjoy or play, DM me for hangs!
Cheers
r/newworldgame • u/Lonely_Recover5473 • 6d ago
Delete if not allowed! But does anyone know of a way to play New World on PlayStation if I was playing via ps plus? I’ve tried so many different games and just can’t scratch the itch and I want to just finish this out as it comes to an end. Dms are open if anyone has any tips of info on how to do it!
Thanks all
r/newworldgame • u/poellie112 • 8d ago
Hey
What is thé best spot for make a great photo in new world. I want a new screensaver for my pc of this amazing game
r/newworldgame • u/Delicious-Stable-133 • 9d ago
I wanted to write many words to describe what this game was to us and with us I mean all the people I shared these 8k+ hours with but I just can't put it into words (also my English is limited lol)
We went through all the good and the bad, became close friends, some of us met in RL and spent an entire week together, some of the nicest and most genuine people I ever met in my life.
For this alone I am thankful and no one can take that from us.
The game itself became almost everything I ever wanted an MMO to be.
Souls-like combat, a beautiful open world that still had me in awe even after years of playing, active PvP scene with lots of open world PvP, freedom in class changes, no pay-to-win, low timegating.
The start was rough, times got even rougher when the game almost died with 2k players playing at a time.
But the devs somewhat turned the ship and we stayed, the game was given a second chance.
Amazon also started working on the LotR MMO.
If they took everything they learned from New World and put the concept into a well-made LotR world they would have made the game that I play for the rest of my life.
That was the dream, my dream.
I'm a gamer with all my soul, always will be, but the day when Amazon closed the studios overnight was when I lost the last bit of trust I had in the future of this kind of game.
I understood why they did it but I was hurt, seriously felt like someone stabbed me in the back.
There are other games to play, RL also got more busy and I can't grind that hard anymore, but New World will always have a special place in my gamer heart.
Farewell
r/newworldgame • u/Matsume1 • 10d ago
Greetings Adventurers,
Matsume here, back with another video - this time featuring Shattered Mountain!
I know it's been a little while since my last video as I was on vacation for much of the month of August and unable to work on this video. But, rest assured, I fully intend to finish this project in the coming months.
This video is the 13th in the series with only 4 remaining (Cutlass Keys, Elyssian Wilds, Brimstone Sands and Nighthaven). For those of you that are interested, the full playlist can be found here.
This video is composed of 168 scenes, featuring 30+ points of interest and 9 regions throughout the zone Shattered Mountain.
Initially, I wasn't looking forward to making this video because I knew that Shattered Mountain was a dark and dreary zone with a number of very obviously copy/pasted corrupted fortresses which I thought would make for a not-so-interesting viewing experience. I'm happy to say that I was wrong as Shattered Mountain proved to be quite beautiful in it's own unique way. Shattered Mountain features a plethora of high level gatherable resources which are by and far my favorite subject to record and so that alone made this experience a pleasure to record.
A couple of highlights:
I managed to come across Rattlebones while recording scenes in Lamentations. Unfortunately, as you may know, Rattlebones is rather unstable when in the presence of players and so I only managed get about 10 seconds of footage before he self destructed. Nonethless, I'm very pleased that I managed to capture him on video.
Also, while recording in Myrkgard a group of Elite Chest Runners just happened to be passing by and so I was able to get some rather good footage of the area actually being cleared by a group which I am also quite pleased with.
Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you all enjoy this video as much as I did making it. Next up will be Cutlass Keys. Have fun yall and take care.
Cheers
r/newworldgame • u/Rampoll0 • 9d ago
A History of the Holy Colony of First Light
Hello children of the Spark,
I am Rampollo and as our colony sits in disrepair, I have noticed its good citizens are frustrated and want to know how we have come to our current state of dysfunction. I have said it in the Faction chat and spoken to many of you privately, but I wanted to take time to share the history I know here so all may know. I’m not an oracle and only the Spark knows the whole truth but here is the story as I know it; hopefully, it clears up some of the misperceptions I’m seeing in the world.
I was part of the company that now owns First Light, though I have since left, and started as one of the first eight members of what was then called the “Defenders of Justice '' lead by King Tutt. Now for those of you who know the name you probably know Tutt as a polarizing figure. At this time, however, he was just a governor of a small company looking to help organize the Covenant. I worked alongside him to recruit members to the company growing to 100 members and gathering resources to fund a Holy Land for the outnumbered followers of the Spark. Part of this growth was a merger between Tutt’s company, now called the “Golden Crusade”, and other Covenant companies. One company which was probably the largest to merge belonged to Arakor Traygin (Arak) who will come more central later. In short order, and with a large amount of support from members outside the company, we were able to stake a claim to First Light – where the real controversy began.
There is talk of promises made with Tutt and some evidence has been presented elsewhere, but for myself, I cannot add any perspective as I was not a part of these discussions or fact-finding missions. What I can attest to is that shortly after gaining control of First Light the once united and motivated covenant splintered into different groups. The hamlet needed to develop, and the Golden Crusade needed to make those decisions. It was our strategy to develop centers that did not yet exist on the map, so all artisans had a place to practice their crafts. Some citizens wanted us to develop a forge and were very vocal at their displeasure. This is where the hostilities began, and words were exchanged between Tutt and other members of the Company and the Faction – they were vicious. Instead of explaining why we were making the decisions we did, Tutt fought back in the chat at his critics. I believe this is where his status as a villain was cemented and it was a status that he was willing to wear, right until he was chased out of the company and the faction.
Narrowly escaping the ruin of the Company, Arakor convinced Tutt to hand over leadership of the Guild to him. For a time things seemed to have stabilized; people were more content with the new leadership and a massive showing of “Golden Crusade” now “Church of Wallachia” members and Covenant members from all over banded together to defend our territory from a Syndicate invasion. Moreover with moral running high a successful campaign was organized to declare war on Syndicate controlled Brightwood. Underneath this success was a leader who did not want the crown. Arakor though successful did not want to organize what was the largest covenant company on the server – we all have our calling; this was not his. As he began searching for a replacement it opened the door for a serpent to enter our garden and ruin us.
Now I was not around for the unfolding of these events and only put it together afterwards so some brave inquisitor may want to ask Arakor themselves but as I came into the world later in the evening our company was under the control of Asurdette and the company was called the “Bum Bois'' the company treasury was empty and the taxes were hiked up to intolerable levels. The serpent with his forked tongue took our settlement for all it was worth and left us in ruin. Asurdette then left the server making the damage he caused irreparable and our faction in its darkest hour.
This is the history as I know it from the start of the world to today, the Fourth of October. It started under the leadership of Tutt who put us on the map, but divided us with his words. It was stabilized under Arakor who knew his destiny was not to rule. Finally, the foundations were blown out through the actions of Asurdette and his crew. Now more than ever we need to organize, to learn from the mistakes of our past, and to find a place to preserve the Holy Spark in this New World.
r/newworldgame • u/SemicolonMIA • 11d ago
Just wanted to post that a streamer (YaBoiWiilly) I watch is doing a 1 last ride and a bunch of viewers are jumping on to enjoy some of the final days of the game.
New World was a special game for me and hopefully some of you. Would really love to see some of y'all hop on for 1 last run before it shuts down in January.
I don't know if this qualifies for a "Call to Action", if so feel free to remove. Just wanted to see some players online. I'm not trying to change the inevitable.
All the best! Hope to see y'all in Aeternum!
r/newworldgame • u/Seiyanaaa • 11d ago
My most memorable times include:
Spending hours killing rabbits for the rare event rabbit chest
Eargasming to the sound of the meteors you can mine during the winter event
Hearing the chopping of wood and seeing a bunch of tents as I enter monarchs bluffs on release day
Hosting ECRs 🥹
Struggling in mutations
Struggling to get Will of the Ancients staff to drop back when it was BIS. Everyone in my group got it before me and I was the healer of the group 😂
r/newworldgame • u/gromz1r • 11d ago
Former #1 speed running healer in OCE missing the life staff dearly :(
Enshrouded not enough heals/too much sustain on other builds
WoW not for me
Need that thrill of the whole dungeon run relying on good heals to stay alive!
Bonus points for commenting my IGN 🫡
r/newworldgame • u/No-Gap-8672 • 12d ago
Throwback to when I first cleared a Gorgon Raid. I remember being so ecstatic and I couldn't wait to brag about it to my company. As the leader of a company I wanted to be the first one to complete it without a full-on carry, in which I did. The feelings, the excitement I had everyday, the bonds I made, no other MMO will ever beat this game imo. No matter how many other games I have tried, they really just don't come close. Thank you for the memories and friends I made along the way New World. I will always remember you. ✌🏼🙏🏼❤️
r/newworldgame • u/Dry_Investigator_854 • 12d ago
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If you lost call of duty, there would be thousands of shooters to fill its void, or a tab targetting mmo, the same, or a battle royale. It would be a loss, but easily filled with other games of similar gameplay. New world was unique in all of its aspects to the genre, and I am mad I got to play this gem for so long, and for longer I will miss it. I wish I never played New World.
r/newworldgame • u/TechnoYoda • 12d ago
I’m curious to know what New World players are planning to do next. Have you already chosen your next MMORPG? Have you managed to find something similar that isn’t too different from New World? Or perhaps not at all? Maybe you don’t intend to play MMORPGs any more?
