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Microsoft has announced Age of Empires 4, 12 years after the release of the Age of Empires III.
You must be very excited about the announcement of Age of Empires 4 if you are an Age of Empires fan like me. The series began in 1997 with the original Age of Empires. Then after 2 years, in 1999, the Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings arrived and then the last game in the franchise, Age of Empires III, came in 2005. All of these three games were developed by Ensemble Studios which does not operate now.
Age of Empires 4 is the 4th major title in the series. Age of Empires Online was also released in 2011 but that was just an online version of the game and did not get much attention. Microsoft also released an announcement trailer of the game. Have a look here.
The Age of Empires 4 is developed by Relic Entertainment, the same company which developed the real-time strategy game franchise Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. The company is already highly regarded for making excellent real-time strategy games, so the hopes from the next Age of Empires are very high. Relic Entertainment is owned by Sega and it will be their first game developed for a publisher other than Sega.
Here’s what the creative director at Microsoft Studios had to say about the Relic Entertainment:
“Relic Entertainment has a wealth of experience in creating high-quality RTS games, making them the ideal partner to develop Age of Empires 4. We are thrilled to be working with them and can’t wait for fans to see their unique and exciting contribution to the Age of Empires franchise.”
Along with the Age of Empires 4, the remastered versions of Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III are also in works and may be released with the Age of Empires 4.
The game is being developed for Windows 10 only and Microsoft did not give any release window. We may see the game by the end of next year.
