New World will be adding a name expiration for characters who haven't played for an extended period of time.

Beginning on October 15, the following change will be in effect: after 6 months of inactivity, character names will be made available to be taken by new characters. That includes characters who haven't played for six months prior to October 15.

In this case, if a player creates a new character, they may choose an expired name. If this happens, the character's name that has been taken will have to choose a new name, and the "Play" button will be replaced with a "Rename" one. In order to maintain your name, you must login to the world with the character in question.

This change is meant to provide more naming options for characters logging into New World in preparation for our console release.

Thanks for your support and we'll see you in Aeternum!