Following the announcement of New World: Aeternum at Summer Game Fest 2024, we caught up with some lead figures from Amazon Games Orange County to dive into the console launch and the various improvements coming to the existing PC version.
We chatted with Scot Lane (Game Director), Katie Kaszynski (Senior Producer), and Dave Verfaillie (Creative Director). As a reminder, the new version of the MMORPG will go live on October 15.
Let's start with the big one. What differentiates New World: Aeternum from the live PC version?
Scot Lane: I think of it more of a spiritual successor because it's got three years of learnings and improvements that we made on the PC and then a whole bunch of new stuff that we've added. Some of the big differentiators are the way we tell people the story is new, the way we tell the story's new.
Those special close-up dialogue cameras, the in-game cinematics we've added. You'll see new pre-rendered cinematics as well at launch. Beyond that, the beach questing is similar but vastly improved. The time to max level is streamlined. I think streamlined is a word I'm probably gonna use a lot because the console audience wants things faster and more clear. We made the game soloable from beginning to end. Doesn't mean you have to play solo. You can play with a group, you can play solo, it's really your option. It still has the MMO back end.
But we've done a lot of focus around making it play and feel more like an action RPG. We've added swimming. We've added a new raid at the endgame. We've taken our solo trials and we've made end-game versions of those that you can play through repeatedly.
We've added a PvP zone. What am I forgetting?
Dave Verfaillie: Gear score increase, matchmaking.
Scot Lane: Oh yes, matchmaking for our 3v3 PvP Arena.
Dave Verfaillie: The other thing we discussed earlier is that the controller support is just better. Now you can remap controls, you have lock on, you have aim assist, so that controller experience has been enhanced from what's currently on live.
Scot Lane: Also, you have camera choices now between player relative or camera relative camera, which is very different for some players depending on which one you choose. If you played the game, like, at launch for New World, it'd be easier to describe what hasn't changed rather than what has changed.
Can you talk a little bit about the class archetypes that are being introduced in New World: Aeternum?
Katy Kaszynski: We wanted to make this a really easy game to just hop into. So, if you have a favorite weapon that you play in a different game, or there's a specific kind of fantasy that you were thinking about for your character, you can very easily start with that.
New World: Aeternum is still a classless game, so your weapon is really your class. But this is a great way to start with this embodiment and definition of who your character is at the beginning, and then you can change and roll to whatever you want it to be as you journey through the game.
You also talked about the improved quest flow from level 1 to 65. Is that going to be in terms of just pacing for how experience is doled out, or are you redesigning those quests?
Dave Verfaillie: I'll take that. I think it's both. We've definitely worked a lot on the quest flow. The NPCs move with you. You can go to an area, and there's a lot of quests around, so there's less sort of like having to run for running's sake. The story sort of moves with you.
The other big thing we wanted to do is that there's no grind for grind's sake in terms of the story, right? As you progress, you naturally level up and the story just gets you to max level so you don't have to do extra stuff, just the story.
Scot Lane: It is also notably faster to get to max level than in the previous version. It probably takes about half of the time. But it's worth mentioning that once you get to max level, that's when the game opens up. You get to the end game and there's all kinds of crazy, fun stuff to do.
Yeah. Even in the brief hands-on, I got to level 11, got through introductory quests, and was opening up new weapon skills and new combos to experiment with. Are there any changes in the crafting and trading systems from the PC release?
Dave Verfaillie: Not too many. The big thing we've done is we've tried to streamline some of the crafting so you progress a little bit faster. We've made some of the recipes for jewel crafting a little simpler, so there's one main recipe for the different types, and then you add different stones to it. Little things like that just sort of make it easier to level up.
Okay. Do you see some of these changes making their way back into the live PC version?
Katy Kaszynski: Oh, they're gonna get all this. For the folks that are currently playing, if they purchased the Rise of the Angry Earth DLC last year, they're going to get everything.
If you have the base game, you're gonna get some of what we talk about when it comes to the new content and new features. So, we're gonna keep the console and PC at parity. Everything that is coming to the console is coming to the PC.
Dave Verfaillie: And that's important for crossplay, right? One of the big things is that PC users can play with console users. They can play in the same worlds, so they always have to be on the same build.
Does that mean New World on PC will change, or rather, essentially disappear, and that Aeternum will take its place?
Scot Lane: I wouldn't say disappearing. I think it's just gonna be rebranded to match the branding of where we are now with the franchise.
Katy Kaszynski: The way that I describe it is if you played right at launch, the game has changed so much. It's a completely different game. We redid the entire main story quest line. It's totally brand new. If you're playing today, and you're a current player, then it's just a continuation of your journey. Your progression continues. This is gonna drop on October 15th, and you're just gonna keep playing and having fun, either on your main or on a fresh start world. If you're on console, you get all of this from day one, and it's just like Aeternum is the ultimate New World experience.
Scot Lane: There'll be a lot more people to buy your stuff on the trading post from October 15th.
Will you launch new worlds, like fresh start worlds, with New World: Aeternum?
Katy Kaszynski: Yes.
Nice. What do players get when they buy into the game on consoles?
Scot Lane: Do you mean like pre-order?
Either pre-order or the editions that are out there.
Katy Kaszynski: There's a standard edition and then we have a deluxe edition that comes with a bear mount, so that's super exciting. And then there's also a pre-order bonus. That's the dire wolf mount called the Azoth Stalker. That's also actually available on PC. While that is a pre-order bonus, it is available to our PC players as well who are currently playing. All they have to do is log in between June 7th and October 14th in order to get that, and then on October 15th, they'll be able to grab that.
I was going to ask if there was a loyalty program for people who are already on PC and have a New World account but might want to start up on consoles.
Scot Lane: Well, on console, no, but on PC, I think it was really important for us that anything, like the Azoth Stalker mount pre-order bonus, would be there as well. We didn't want to give something to the consoles that the PC players wouldn't have access to. It just didn't seem fair for all the support they've given us. And it's the same with the content. We really wanted to just make the PC game better for those who bought Rise of the Angry Earth as a thank you for hanging in there and sticking around with this and being a good partner.
On PC, will you still have the same controller support and the lock-on features?
Dave Verfaillie: Yes. We have total parity. So you can lock on, I think the default is middle mouse button. It feels great.
Scot Lane: Or you can play on controller on PC.
On the other hand, can you play with keyboard and mouse on consoles?
Scot Lane: Yes. I've never tried it.
Good to know it's there as an option. As far as the expansion content goes, in the little bit that I played, I did see a hook. There was a quest item that you could pick up for the Elysian Wilds. I mentioned that you did not have access to that expansion in the bit I played.
Scot Lane: You saw that here?
Yeah, there was a mudstain note in the city you could walk up to that was just sitting on a chest. When you click that, it says you need access to this expansion, and you have to be level 25.
Scot Lane: Oh, no, you just have to be level 25. It was gated by level, not the expansion.
Okay. The tooltip kind of said both things for some reason. I wondered if Elysian Wilds was included with the base game.
Scot Lane: Do you mean the base console game?
Yeah.
Katy Kaszynski: So, for the Standard and Deluxe edition on consoles, both of those have everything wrapped up and included. They get it all. On PC, there's still a base game where some people may not have the DLC on PC. That won't happen on console since everything is included.
Okay. So, there isn't a piecemeal way to buy specific expansions on consoles?
Katy Kaszynski: It all comes nicely wrapped in a bow, ready to go for that.
Scot Lane: New World: Aeternum includes everything that has shipped to date and all the new stuff.
Cool. Have you talked about any of the PVP rebalancing that you guys are doing for New World: Aeternum?
Dave Verfaillie: We're continuously balancing PVP, and I think with this release, we will make a very big effort to bring all the weapons up to parity and balance the game.
The 15 weapon types that are in New World: Aeternum, is that everything that's in the base game? There's no new weapon types this time around?
Katy Kaszynski: Correct. For the console version, everything is in the base game, I just want to make that clear. There is a flail that's gated behind the Rise of the Angry Earth DLC on PC.
With the cross-play feature, is there cross-communication and cross-platform guild support?
Dave Verfaillie: Absolutely, yeah. You can join guilds with people on any platform, you can chat with them, you can make friends with them.
Katy Kaszynski: You can run the influence races together, you can take over the territory together, you can fight wars together, you can do all that. It's awesome.
For consoles, are you guys talking about if there's graphic versus performance modes available for players?
Dave Verfaillie: Yeah, we do have a 4K mode. We have performance and quality. The goal of performance is to always be at 60. In Quality mode, you'll sometimes dip a little bit, but it gives you all the best visuals. The shadows are deeper, and the lighting's a little better, so you can sort of choose what's best for you.
Are you guys utilizing AMD FSR or any additional rendering options for consoles/PC?
David Fairfaye: Yes, we are. We're using an upscaler.
Scot Lane: I believe it's AMD FSR. It's coming to consoles, as well as PC (at a later date).
Dave Verfaillie: One other thing about the rendering: it's worth mentioning we'll be bringing HDR in with this release, which I think will be really great for those with HDR displays.
Awesome. I guess from each of you, is there one, like, particular feature or something that stands out for the launch of New World: Aeternum that is something you've wanted to do from the base game that you can finally do?
Dave Verfaillie: I'll start because I always say this. I know Katie wants to say something.
Katy Kaszynski: I do want to say it!
Dave Verfaillie: My favorite is the raid. I think finally bringing a raid to New World is something that players have been asking for for a long time. This is a full and true raid. It's a three-boss experience, and I think, you know, it's part of that end game. It's that challenging content players have been waiting for.
Katy Kaszynski: That first boss is my favorite. It looks very different from what we've done. It acts very different from what we've done. Really different mechanics throughout the whole thing with each of the bosses, but that one, I love the way it looks. But the thing that I'm excited about is actually the Lawless Zone.
I think that - I love our faction system. I play into it. I played each different faction type on each of my characters. But I'm really looking forward to getting into this lawless area where factions don't matter. I think this is gonna be the coolest thing. And we're gonna have more information on that coming up in a Forged in Aeternum episode where we kind of dig into that. I'm super stoked to do that episode, it's my favorite thing.
Scot Lane: For me, I'm like a 90/10 player. 90% of the time, I want to be alone, but I like to know there are people around. The 10 percent I group is only really out of requirements in a game, so I am really pumped about having the solo experience from beginning to end and having some endgame solo activities and things that I can just do by myself.
Part of that is the enhanced dialogue system, almost like the RPG storytelling systems we've added. I think combined, those two make the game something I would have loved to have gotten from the beginning.
Thank you all very much for your time.
