Amazon Games released New World in September 2021, and things didn’t go as smoothly as the company hoped. A mix of bugs, bots, and microtransactions frustrated the once-massive fanbase, leading the MMO down what could have been a damning path of no return. Thankfully, the dev team has been hard at work developing new content for the title. The Brimstone Sands update was released at 10 AM UTC today, October 18, bringing with it a massive new zone, a new expedition, new story content, and plenty more to keep players busy.
According to the official New World website, the new Brimstone Sands zone is more than twice the size of Everfalls. The area features brand new enemies along with a new territory to control.
Below, you can read the lore behind the new map.
Death hovers over the scorched wastes of Brimstone Sands, its thirst still unsatisfied even after centuries of strife and war. The ancient Egyptians first encountered the godlike Ancients here and built monuments and vast cities that were part of a flourishing civilization thousands of years in the past. Their civilization has long fallen to ruin, and few of those original inhabitants remain except for the mysterious sorcerer Imhotep, with whom players must work with to solve the desert’s mysteries.
The most immediate threat in Brimstone Sands is posed by the deranged remnants of the Roman Empire’s 19th Legion. What exactly befell the Romans must be discovered, but they have fallen to Corruption and now besiege the ancient ruins of a mysterious Pyramid known as Akhet. They are certain that, within, they will find the secret to their redemption and the long-awaited resurgence of the Roman Empire.
New World has added greatswords to the player arsenal, and depending on the situation, these can be useful both offensively and defensively. For those who like to lead the attack, the Onslaught skill tree will be for you. Those who like to tread carefully and focus on defense can choose the Defiance skill tree. Heartgem Abilities, also new to this update, will serve as “ultimate” abilities and will continuously charge up when players are in a fight.
Along with the new content, Amazon announced that more new servers are opening to help hand player depend and growing player activity on existing servers. Three additional EU Central servers have been added, along with two new US East servers, one new US West server, and one server each for South America and Asia-Pacific Southwest.
New World is currently available for the PC. The MMO was released in September 2021, and while it managed to pull in hundreds of thousands of players immediately after release, the playerbase decreased by 70% in the first month. While bugs and bots have plagued the title for the past year, Amazon Games seems dedicated to providing improvements. In March, the development team initially shared the 2022 roadmap. While many players were happy to see that more content and fixes were incoming, certain members of the gaming community questioned whether this was too little too late.
