Microsoft Studios has made it official: Age of Empires 4 is in the works and will come to the PC. Although the company has divulged no other details, players will be excited to learn more about the game since it will be the first proper entry in the real-time strategy franchise since 2005’s Age of Empires III.
What we know about Age of Empires 4 so far
On Monday, Microsoft announced the news during Gamescom and also dropped a short teaser. Animations suggest that the game will not be based on a single era; rather, players will see a swarm of different armies from previous games in the series, such as British redcoats, Native Americans, and Japanese samurai, notes PCGamer.
The classic franchise, which debuted 20 years ago, has been an all-time favorite of real-time strategy lovers. Company of Heroes and Homeworld developer Relic has been given the responsibility to develop Age of Empires IV. Although Relic did not perform up to public standards in Dawn of War III, it seems like Microsoft has made an informed choice, given the capabilities of the developer.
“Relic Entertainment has a wealth of experience in creating high-quality RTS games, making them the ideal partner to develop Age of Empires 4,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
Relic stated on its website that it is proud to be part of this legacy.
“We can’t wait to tap into our strengths as a studio to fuse historical context with deep strategic gameplay, and to bring this franchise back to the forefront of gaming and into the hands of its beloved community,” the game developer said.
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
Microsoft also announced that it will be releasing Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, on October 19. The remastered 4K version will be available on Windows 10 in the Windows Store. A few known features coming to the Definitive Edition are higher 250-300 population cap options, right click mouse scrolling, unit queuing, and contextual rally points, among others.
The Xbox maker announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition at E3 in Los Angeles in June. At the event, Adam Isgreen, creative director for the title, stated that the company is working hard on the franchise’s 20th anniversary in 2018. Further, Isgreen hinted that Age of Empires IV was also in the works.
“We want to make sure we do just as much justice for Gamescom and all the European gamers as we did at E3 here today,” Isgreen told GamesBeat in June.
Further, he hinted that the company will have more to reveal about it in the future, and Gamescom could be the event to wait for more announcements related to the Age of Empire franchise.
Last week, there were reports of the Definitive Edition entering the beta stage. Apparently, the first closed beta version of the game will be offered to selected players. So there is no guarantee that even users who signed up for the beta will get to test the game, notes Windowsreport.
It is not just the first edition of Age of Empire that is being remastered; rather, Microsoft announced that Age of Empire II and Age of Empire III will also get Definitive Edition versions going forward.
