Hallelujah, we’re finally getting a huge blast of info out of New World this afternoon. Let’s start with the big news: Season 8 is coming, it’s called Season of the Divide, and it launches May 13th.
“This season throws players into fierce competition with a focus on high-stakes risk, fast progression, and massive PvP encounters,” Amazon announced this afternoon. “Prepare for a Hardcore Seasonal World, the new Coral Divide Outpost Rush map, World Bosses, preview weekends for Capture the Flag and 3v3 Arena, a new Barbershop, and more. Whether you’re sprinting to max level or risking it all to remain ‘unfallen,’ Season 8 rewards those who embrace the chaos — and survive it.”
That hardcore seasonal world is actually called Hardcore, and it’s not actually launching until “early June,” with a new twist on the ruleset that allows faster leveling and gearing with no artifact limits.
“New characters begin in a ‘unfallen’ state, gaining access to elite rewards if they survive without dying. Die once, and you will forfeit the ability to unlock the unfallen rewards. However, your character will remain, and your experience on the server will become easier. You’ll still have plenty of other rewards to chase and unlock for your account and primary characters, even after you’ve fallen.”
The season also includes the Coral Divide OPR map that’s been in testing already, a capture the flag PvP mode being tested in S8, a new Barebones OPR map that flattens gearscore, a new 3v3 arena preview, the barbershop (finally!), new open-world boss events, the season pass, and a list of quality-of-life perks. We spy tweaks to target lock, new potions, and pvp camps, among others.
Today’s announcement comes with a lengthy developer update video and a roadmap. Like the last roadmap, this one doesn’t really have any dates, but it does break down what’s in development (like a new raid, zone upleveling, and a new zone) and what’s on the table for the future (like farming, new weapons, and account-wide progression). If you’re a New World player looking at Steam player counts, you’re probably not feeling 100% safe right now, but you’re surely feeling a lot better today than yesterday.
