The developers New World, have given insights into their process of rolling out minor updates, major releases, and fast patches aimed at making the game world, Aeternum, increasingly immersive. A recent video highlights the stark differences between minor and major updates, with the former addressing quality-of-life fixes and the latter introducing new content.

The Lead Producer of Live Operations, Derek Hernandez, explained the Fast Patch process. Hernandez elucidated that when a substantial issue arises, it first undergoes a triage process, from initial investigation by the Quality Assurance (QA) team to review by Production and Feature Leads. Most bugs are then allocated to an upcoming Major game update, which is typically released quarterly.

Hernandez further explained the difference between minor patches and fast patches, “If a critical issue arises that cannot wait 1 to 2 weeks to be resolved, we deploy Fast Patches—unscheduled builds. This enables us to implement critical fixes swiftly while other patches are in active development or testing. For Fast Patches, we include only 1 to 2 critical fixes that significantly impact the game. Once the patch is successfully built and tested, it is promptly deployed to the live environment.”

Hernandez cited a recent example where a minor update introduced a bug in the leaderboard system. The bug caused players to receive repeated reward notifications whenever they teleported. Using a Fast Patch, the developers were able to integrate a fix into the system once it had been verified by the QA team. The issue was addressed promptly on May 4, ensuring the game’s smooth operation and minimizing the impact on players. This rapid response reduced the number of potentially delayed rewards by 50%.