New World teases its upcoming hardcore seasonal world featuring accessible permadeath-style mechanics.

While New World’s eighth season, Season of the Divide, has been live for a couple of weeks, some of its content was initially delayed. Amazon postponed the launch of the new season server and continued testing certain PvP modes. Now, a new dev blog provides a closer look at the midseason update, particularly focusing 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. “A new questline replaces the traditional Main Story Quest, offering content tailored to guide players through Hardcore’s unique progression and crafting loop. Additionally, faster gear access allows you to reach endgame crafting and Artifact acquisition sooner than ever before.”

In summary, the leveling and material grind on this server template is significantly reduced. Death doesn’t delete your character but disqualifies you from seasonal journal rewards until you reroll and start again. While characters are lost at the end of the season, journey rewards can be claimed on core servers by your main characters. The hardcore season world runs from June 3rd to July 8th.

As for the PvP modes still in testing, the new Barebones mode for Outpost Rush (OPR) is currently available through June 2nd. This mode removes gear perks and gear score, ensuring a level playing field for all participants in PvP.