Amazon’s Big MMO That Started Strong Is Shutting Down

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Amazon Games has announced that the online game New World: Aeternum will shut down at the end of January 2027. This news wasn’t unexpected, as players had predicted the closure after the developers stated they wouldn’t add any new content following the Nighthaven update last year. Further signaling this outcome, Amazon reduced staff within its gaming division, specifically impacting the New World team, in October 2025.

Aeternum will no longer be available for purchase on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S after January 15th. However, players who already own the game will still be able to enjoy it until January 31, 2027. Amazon has also announced that the Nighthaven event will continue until the game officially shuts down.

The developers expressed their gratitude to players for their commitment and enthusiasm, and for the time spent building the world of Aeternum together. They shared that while they’re sad to be moving on, they’re proud of what they accomplished with the community.

New World first became available on computers in September 2021 and later on game consoles in October 2024. It quickly gained popularity, with over 900,000 people playing at the same time. While updates initially brought more players to the Steam version, the number of concurrent players has since decreased to around 1,100.

Amazon has announced it will continue to offer in-game purchases for New World until July 19, 2026. After that date, the game’s currency, Marks of Fortune, will no longer be available for purchase, and all items obtainable with it will be removed. Players who have remaining Marks of Fortune will not receive refunds.

Amazon has announced that New World will no longer receive new content updates, but they will continue to monitor the game for bugs and performance issues to keep it running as smoothly as possible as it enters a maintenance phase.

Amazon hasn’t had much success with video games lately. Several projects, including the free-to-play shooter Crucible and a Lord of the Rings online game, were canceled. Another game, Breakaway, was also scrapped before it could be released.

A recent Bloomberg report highlighted potential problems with how Amazon runs its video game division. While Amazon CEO Andy Jassy publicly supported gaming back in 2021, that was some time ago. Despite these issues, Amazon is still involved in gaming, currently publishing the games Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst.

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2026-01-15 23:10