It’s been a while, Age of Empires.
More than a decade after Age of Empires III was released,
publisher Microsoft Studios has announced that Age of Empires IV is in
development and coming to PC. There’s no release window for the game; just the
launch trailer above, filled with concept art of historical battles. But even
that will be enough to get fans of the series excited.
The first Age of Empires came out in 1997 as a real-time
strategy game developed by the now-defunct Ensemble Studios. Players had to
guide their troops through the Stone Age to the Classical period, with a follow
up in 1999, Age of Empires II, taking the action to the Middle Ages. Age of
Empires III was released in 2005, focusing on the colonial period, and adding a
number of new game mechanics, and in 2011, the series tried its hand at
free-to-play, with Age of Empires Online and its cartoony aesthetic.
We don’t know where Age of Empires IV will fit into this
history, but the choice of developer — Canada’s Relic Entertainment — suggest a
more traditional approach to the series. Relic has previously been responsible
for a number of well-received strategy games, including Company of Heroes and
Homeworld.
”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,”
said the developer in a blog post. “We look forward to sharing with you more
details in the months to come. For now, just know we are beyond excited to be
working on the next entry into the legendary franchise.”
Until then, fans of the series also have Age of Empires:
Definitive Edition to look forward to. This 4K remaster of the original Age of
Empires will be released October 19th, and will be available exclusively on the
Windows Store in Windows 10. It’ll be nice to have the remaster for hardcore
fans, but we can’t wait to try something new in the AoE series.
