GamingTrend interviews Senior Producer Katy Kaszynski on New World: Aeternum

We had the opportunity to talk directly with Senior Producer Katy Kaszynski at Amazon Games about their newest game New World: Aeternum! Without further ado, let’s dive right in!

GamingTrend: What was the overall thought process in the re-launch of New World as New World: Aeternum? Were console launches always on the roadmap?Will Aeternum be PS5 pro enhanced?

Katy: So I don’t have any details with PS5 Pro, but I can say that when it comes to Aeternum on console, that’s something that we always felt like where this was going, because the action combat just feels so good. Like it would translate really well. And we’ve seen that occur, we’ve seen it happen, and it’s come to fruition. We’ve always felt like this type of combat would feel really good on a controller and on console.

GamingTrend: Where do you see the game in the next five years? Any plans to prolong the longevity of the game?

Katy: I’m in the room still flipping switches for the current game! Yeah, we’re definitely focused right now on making sure that this launch went super well. Night Vale Hollow just went live, so making sure that that event runs well. And then all the rest of the events that are going on in Season 6. And yeah, there’s more on the horizon, and we definitely can’t wait to share that.

Historically we’ve always looked to add value to our previously released expansions So like Brimstone Sands was a value add for people who purchased the game initially. It was what you could call it a free expansion, but it was really just additional content for folks that have purchased the game. For Rise of the Angry Earth, anybody who purchased that DLC, everything in Aeternum that’s level gated or the higher gear score, all of that good stuff, that’s all value add to people who purchased the Rise of the Angry Earth. So that’s something that we wanna continue moving forward is looking at these really interesting moments for players and then building onto that.

GamingTrend: Any plans for crossovers or collaborations with other games?

Katy: I love this question. I don’t have many details to share right now, but one thing that I did wanna bring up is we’ve done a collab pretty recently with Secret Level. And there may be some in game ties to that. So folks can can be on the look out. But yeah, like collaborations in general: we’re open to it. Like we’re always interested in what could be a fun thing for our players to enjoy. But it’s not out of the question. In our game, nothing’s out of the question. But that doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen, but it means that it’s like, it’s always a conversation with us.

GamingTrend: The game is now much more solo-player friendly than before. Are there future plans to make it an even more streamlined solo player experience?

Katy: I think it’s in a really good spot for solo. We used to have required group content way back in the day, like when you played last in 2021, we had that remember that? You needed at least three, usually five. All of that is not included in the main story quest line. So you can complete the entire main story without having to do any group content. Our expeditions in case like you want to join a pickup group, which I think is kind of like a solo plus kind of experience because you’re not finding a pre-made where you know the tank, you know the healer, you can just join some random folks. Our vanilla expeditions are really story mode. They’re pretty simple. You might take a couple tries to get through them, but you can get through it as essentially a solo player in a crowd, and then hop out and continue on your way in case you wanna dabble in group content. But when we create new features, when we do new content, the solo experience is part of that conversation every time. So when we do come up with new content, we always take any consideration the solo player.

GamingTrend: Lots of MMORPGs are a free to play experience, what’s the reasoning behind making New World a fully paid experience?

Katy: We felt that the amount of content that you get in New World Aeternum is worth the price. We also don’t have a subscription. We don’t have pay to win. We don’t have a lot of the things that you would see in a free to play game. And a lot of that’s due to feel. We don’t want players having to feel like they need to act a certain way in order to get through the game. You should be able to purchase the game and have fun playing the content. And that’s where we’ve come from. Now, if you want to dress up and you want to wear some cool Halloween stuff, or you want to get your holiday attire on, then that’s something that you can purchase from the store. And then we also have the seasonal pass for anybody that wants to get some interesting skins or some cool mats But yeah, it’s it’s an opt-in monetization for the game.

GamingTrend: Do you consider New World Aeternum a full MMORPG, or consider it more of an action RPG?

Katy: So I would say that we’re definitely a blend of both. Like we’re across different genres. But I think that what determines what type of game we are is the player. So if you join and you’re interested in joining an MMO, then this is the place for you. If you join and you’re interested in ARPG and that action combat and the solo experience, then this game is for you. It’s from the player experience. From our side, we have it all. And from their side, it’s however they want to approach it.

GamingTrend: How do you plan on taking community feedback to make the game an even better experience for all?

Katy: We absolutely listen to our players, a lot of what we’re seeing in a turn them as far as changes we’ve made and changes we’ve made in the past three years have come directly from player feedback from players that, you know, not just what they tell us, but the way that they act in game through our telemetry and what we can see in data. So we’ve used all of that to create this game which folks are loving and we have a long and exciting road ahead of us. And my hope is that players will continue to keep giving us that feedback and keep giving us their suggestions. You know, when they’re critical, I know it comes from a place of passion for the game. And a lot of the time they’ve got these great ideas. So yeah, so we’ll absolutely always take into account player feedback when we’re coming up with changes that we need to make or future content.

In case you missed it, check out our recent preview of the Beta or our review of the original on PC. We are currently working on a review for Aeternum as well, so be on the look out for that soon! Thank you again Katy for your time! For more news on New World: Aeternum, stay tuned to GamingTrend!

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