MMOEXP-Is New World: Aeternum's Season 9 the Perfect Time to Jump In?
When New World launched in September 2021, it was positioned as Amazon Games’ ambitious entry into the MMORPG market. Backed by a massive budget, a team with veterans from acclaimed studios, and one of the largest pre-release marketing campaigns in recent MMO history, expectations were sky-high. By late 2024, the game rebranded as New World Aeternum, aiming to refine its systems and reintroduce itself to both veterans New World Coins and curious newcomers. Now, in its ninth season and approaching its fourth anniversary, the question looms: Is New World Aeternum still worth trying in 2025?
The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. While the game will never return to its initial peak of 910,000 concurrent Steam players, it has matured into a more stable, content-rich MMO with a niche but dedicated community. To understand where it stands today, we must first look back at its disastrous start and how it evolved into the form we see in Season 9.
A Disastrous Start
At launch, New World was hailed as the “next big MMO.” Its stunning environments, unique classless combat system, and massive open-world PvP battles set it apart from the genre’s traditional offerings. However, the excitement was quickly overshadowed by technical problems and poor management decisions.
Players on high-end graphics cards, particularly the RTX 3090, reported severe overheating and even hardware-damaging crashes. Although Amazon eventually claimed the issue stemmed from hardware rather than their client, the damage to trust had already been done. Bugs such as coin duplication exploits, weapon power-up glitches, and PvP imbalance plagued the experience. For a game so heavily advertised as revolutionary, these oversights felt unacceptable.
Another early misstep was the development team’s lack of MMO-specific experience. While the team included veterans from EverQuest and Portal, their strengths lay in single-player and smaller-scale multiplayer design. Building a persistent online world with live-service demands proved a different beast entirely. Coupled with Amazon’s prior failures in game development, pressure was immense, and the rushed release left players with what many described as a half-finished product.
By November 2021, only two months after launch, the player base had collapsed to less than one-tenth of its peak. For many, New World became a cautionary tale about overhyping and underdelivering in the MMO space.
The Road to Redemption
Despite its rocky start, Amazon did not abandon New World. Over the following years, the game received steady patches, seasonal updates, and major system overhauls. By mid-2024, the New World Aeternum rebrand marked a turning point. This wasn’t just a name change—it was a chance to rewrite the game’s identity.
Key improvements included:
Combat Refinements: Animations became smoother, weapon skills were rebalanced, and PvE/PvP scaling was adjusted to reduce frustration.
Seasonal Structure: Instead of sporadic updates, New World shifted to a seasonal content model, bringing predictable refreshes in activities, quests, and battle passes.
New Weapons & Classes: With the addition of flails, daggers, and revamped magic systems, combat diversity improved, giving players new build possibilities.
Quality-of-Life Fixes: Fast travel, storage management, and crafting systems were streamlined, addressing long-standing community complaints.
Fresh Content: Dungeons, raids, and territory wars received new layers of complexity, offering both PvE and PvP players meaningful progression.
These changes didn’t bring New World back to its launch highs, but they did help stabilize the player base around 10,000 daily active players on Steam, with more playing through Amazon’s direct client. While small compared to genre giants like Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft, this consistent core audience kept Aeternum alive.
What Season 9 Offers in 2025
Season 9 builds upon the groundwork laid in earlier rebranding efforts. The focus is on deepening the endgame loop while keeping the early leveling experience fresh for newcomers.
Highlights of Season 9 include:
A New Seasonal Storyline – Expanding the lore of Aeternum with new characters, enemies, and zone-specific events.
Endgame Raids – Cooperative encounters requiring precise mechanics, harkening back to the epic raid traditions of classic MMOs.
Territory Control Revamp – Giving faction wars more tactical depth, ensuring that PvP feels like a meaningful struggle for dominance rather than a grind.
Housing & Economy Improvements – Property taxes, trophies, and decorations remain important for progression, but systems have been streamlined to avoid excessive grind.
Accessibility Features – Updated UI, controller support, and better onboarding make the game more approachable for new players.
For veterans, Season 9 adds longevity and challenge. For new players, it presents a far more polished game than the one released in 2021.
Why It’s Still Worth Playing in 2025
Despite its history, New World Aeternum is not a dead MMO. It’s a mid-sized title with a dedicated core community, and it offers experiences you won’t find in every online RPG.
Unique Combat System – Unlike tab-target MMOs, New World’s real-time, action-oriented combat still feels refreshing. Dodges, blocks, and skillshots keep battles engaging.
Stunning Visuals – Even four years later, Aeternum remains one of the most visually striking MMO worlds, blending colonial aesthetics with supernatural fantasy.
Player-Driven Economy – Crafting and trading remain central, rewarding players who enjoy in-game economies.
Seasonal Engagement – Regular content drops mean there’s always something new to chase, whether cosmetics, achievements, or story arcs.
Affordable Entry – Unlike subscription-based MMOs, New World only requires a one-time purchase (plus optional cosmetics), making it an accessible choice for casual MMO players.
For those who abandoned it early, revisiting New World in 2025 might be surprising. The game is not perfect—population size means fewer pick-up groups, and some systems still suffer from grind-heavy design—but it is far more refined and rewarding than its disastrous launch state.
Final Verdict
New World Aeternum may never reclaim its position as the “next big MMO,” but in 2025, it has carved out a niche as a solid, mid-tier online RPG with unique mechanics, a beautiful world, and consistent seasonal updates.
If you’re looking for an MMO that doesn’t demand a subscription, offers satisfying action combat, and buy New World Coins continues to evolve despite its troubled history, Season 9 makes it a worthwhile choice.
In short: while New World’s peak may be behind it, its best days for players who value depth, combat, and community might still be here in Aeternum.