While New World’s eighth season – Season of the Divide – has already been live for a couple of weeks, but as we pointed out at the time, it arrived without some of its content, as Amazon delayed the release of the new season server and was still testing some of the new PvP modes. Now, we’re getting a closer look at what the midseason will look like thanks to a new dev blog on the upcoming hardcore seasonal world.

“In the Hardcore Seasonal World, players will progress from zero to endgame-ready in just a few hours,” the studio explains. “There’s a new questline that replaces the traditional Main Story Quest with content tailored to guide you through Hardcore’s unique progression and crafting loop. There’s faster gear access that allows you to reach endgame crafting and Artifact acquisition sooner than ever before.”

In a nutshell, the level and mat grind on this server template is dramatically reduced, and death doesn’t actually delete your toon – only knocks out out of the running for the seasonal journal rewards until you reroll a new one to start again. You do lose your characters at the end of the season, mind you, but journey rewards are claimable on the core servers by your home toons. The season world opens June 3rd and runs through July 8th.

As for those PvP modes still in testing, OPR’s new Barebones mode is currently on display through June 2nd; that’s the mode that flattens gear perks and gearscore so that everyone is on a level playing field in PvP.

Outpost Rush: Barebones is live now through June 2 ⚔️

Fight in a level playing field with no gear perks and a max gear score right from the start! pic.twitter.com/fswDe5Bsh6

— New World: Aeternum (@playnewworld) May 27, 2025