“Games should never die” does sound like something a hero would say, and as Amazon’s New World: Aeternum has confirmed its way to the chopping block, at least one man seems hellbent on not letting the MMORPG go down without a fight.
That man would be Alistair McFarlane, COO of Facepunch Studios and Rust’s game director, who reached out to New World’s developer and publisher, Amazon Games, saying he would like to pay US$ 25 million for getting the rights to the game.
Originally, Amazon Games announced the end of new content for its game in October, 2025. The actual end of the game — i.e. complete server shutdown — is scheduled for January 31st, 2027, as you heard from us yesterday. Before that, microtransactions will be nixed next July, effectively killing the game’s monetization ability. As of yesterday, New World: Aeternum has been completely delisted on all storefronts.
McFarlane is no stranger of “maintaining games alive” — in fact, the very statement that opens this article comes from him. Rust, likely his studio’s most famous title, was originally released in December, 2013, and to this date it still sits as one of the most played games on Steam (thanks, SteamDB!). Although not the most well-received by critics, it has maintained the status of a somewhat cult classic over the years.
Suffice to say, the man knows not only how to keep a ball rolling, but entertaining people with it. At least until we ran this piece, Amazon Games gave no response — public or otherwise — to Alistair’s offer. But judging by how bittersweet a game’s shutdown always make you feel in most cases, here’s hoping this comes to fruition.
