The evergreen real-time strategy franchise from Microsoft Studios always tops the list whenever it comes to strategy games and franchises. The Age of Empires games did so much to revolutionize real-time strategy, that the series is undoubtedly the first to make this genre a wide success.
A new successor of the series, Age of Empires 4 is on its way, announced Microsoft yesterday. A trailer was released that has 200K+ views on YouTube already. The game trailer shows a number of eras, empires, kingdoms and battlefields. After all, these are the basic elements that makes up an AOE game.
This time, Ensemble Studios isn’t making the game. In their stead, Relic Entertainment stands as the studio behind Age of Empires 4’s development. Relic is a Canada-based is a highly regarded developer, and is known for some of the remarkable real-time strategy games such as Homeworld, Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.
“Relic Entertainment has a wealth of experience in creating high-quality RTS games, making them the ideal partner to develop Age of Empires 4,” said Adam Isgreen, creative director at Microsoft Studios, in an Xbox Wire post. “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.”
“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,” Relic said in its own announcement.
Along with Age of Empires 4’s announcement, Microsoft has announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Forgotten Empires’ 4K remaster of the 20-year-old Age of Empires, will release on October 19.
There’s no release date for the game so far, but you can sign up for their official Insider Program to stay updated. Along with it, their official website is being constantly updated with latest news and information that might help you relive the Age experience.