During SGF, I sat down and chatted with some of the team behind Amazon Games New World: Aeternum. For those unaware, Aeternum will serve as the console port of its MMORPG New World: Aeternum. During our interview, we discussed some challenges of bringing New World: Aeternum to the console, what they believe makes the game special, and much more.
Cross-Play and Content Synchronization in New World: Aeternum
New World was originally launched in 2021. When asked why Amazon Games decided that now was a good time to bring it to the console, Amazon Games Game Director Scot Lane said that porting it to consoles had always been the plan.
“To be honest, we’ve wanted to for a while. When we sorted out our combat model and our navigation model, it was pretty clear and evident to us that this would feel great on console. But it’s a hard endeavor. It’s a lot of work. So we worked with our PC audience, developing and making the game better on the same side. At the same time, we are working on our technology and getting it ready.”
Lane then explained that once they felt the studio could better handle a console version of New World, they started working on ensuring it felt good to play on a controller and that the UI felt right.
Katy Kaszynski, Senior Producer at Amazon Games, then explained that both the console and PC versions would have the same content release day and date, so no one platform is left behind. They then went on to say that New World: Aeternum will support cross-play. It’s also worth mentioning that Kaszynski said there will not be cross-progression, and it’s not something the studio is currently looking into.
Overcoming Challenges – Porting New World: Aeternum to Consoles
Kaszynski went on to share some of the challenges the studio faced in bringing New World to the console, including reworking the engine on which the game runs. Creative Director David Verfaillie then added to this by explaining how important it was to ensure playing on the controller felt smooth.
“Controller is a big focus. Because you want to be able to play the game, you want it to feel natural. So we spent a lot of time on it. We released it on PC first, which allowed us to get some feedback.”
Since it was first released on PC, Amazon Games could implement various features, including lock-on, aim assist, virtual cursor, and much more.
Lane believes that the gameplay for New World: Aeternum will be a large factor in converting players who may have never given New World a chance on a console.
“Our controls right, our direct physical based dynamic combat. Which really means like where you are in the world matters in proportion of your enemy. You can block, dodge, and duck under projectiles. Then it’s the effort we’ve made towards the action RPG side, which is that while there are a ton of players around, you can play the entire game in single-player mode and be brought in the story campaign.”
New World: Aeternum’s Combat and Multiplayer Modes
Verfaillie then explained why he believes the combat and all the various multiplayer modes will be a major reason why console players give New World a shot once it’s released.
“What I think separates us a little bit is the large-scale combat. We have modes with huge amounts of people, we have the 50 on 50 wars, and we have an invasion, which is a PvE thing, 50 people against hordes of enemies.”
The team explained that players will not be locked into their classes after they create a character. If a player starts as a mage and later wants to respec to be a tank, they can do it. But it’ll require some work to unlock new gear and rebalance their skills.
New World is currently only available on PC. However, on October 15, when New World: Aeternum drops later this year, it will be playable on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
