User blog comment:Kogath/Monster Hunter: World Discussion/@comment-6050823-20180131052523/@comment-20010297-20180202152123

I don't think they called MH4's locations as "The New World", but rather it took place in the original Old World, especially since we can visit Dundorma and the Dunes (1st gen Desert remake).

And MHGen defintely wasn't a New World either, as there was only a few new areas, and mostly older areas from older games (areas from Gen 1 through 4).

They've only called MH3 and MH3U (maybe even MHP3) as the games in part of a New World, and it was like that until MHWorld came out with its Newer New World.