Amazon's Big MMO That Started Strong Is Shutting Down

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Amazon Games has announced that the MMO New World: Aeternum will go offline at the end of January 2027. The announcement isn't a total surprise, though, as some theorized this would be the case after the developer announced that the MMO would get no more new content after the Nighthaven seasonal update last year. In October 2025, Amazon cut more jobs at its gaming division that specifically impacted the MMO teams.Aeternum's final day on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S is January 31, 2027. As of today, January 15, the game is being delisted. Everyone who has the game can keep playing, and Amazon announced that the Nighthaven event is being extended until the eventual shutdown."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. 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," the developer wrote in the announcement.New World launched in September 2021 for PC and came to consoles in October 2024. The game had a strong start, reaching a peak of more than 900,000 concurrent users. The game's playerbase on Steam ticked up with new updates, but has fallen down to about 1,100 concurrent players on Steam.Amazon also clarified that it will keep selling microtransactions for New World until July 19, 2026, after which the Marks of Fortune currency will be removed from sale, along with all other items. Refunds will not be provided to people who have a balance of Marks of Fortune.While New World will not get any more new content, Amazon said it will monitor the game for "bugs and performance to ensure the game runs smoothly as things wind down."Amazon has struggled with games in recent years. Amazon's free-to-play shooter Crucible stalled and was eventually canceled, while the company was making a Lord of the Rings MMO until a supposed contract dispute ended things. Amazon also had a game in the works called Breakaway that was canceled.A report from Bloomberg documented an apparent pattern of mismanagement at Amazon's video game division. In 2021, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy pledged a commitment to gaming, but that was years ago. The company isn't abandoning games altogether, of course, as it's publishing Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst.