Earlier today, Microsoft revealed that Age of Empires IV will be released in the near future. This will be the fourth installment of the popular real-time strategy series. Relic Entertainment, the developer behind the many Warhammer and Company of Heroes games, is set to develop Age of Empires IV for Microsoft.
There isn’t any other news associated with the game as of now; only a trailer released alongside the news by Microsoft. Check it out below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwZ6GZXWhA
The trailer side scrolls its way through a number of different conflicts, as previously seen in past Age of Empires games. Although the scrolling of battles appears to follow a chronological order, there doesn’t seem to be any indication as to which era the game will focus on. In previous Age of Empires titles, there were a variety of factions/eras a player could play with/through. In the video, viewers get a glimpse of the British Redcoats, Native Americans, Roman Legionnaires, and Japanese Samurai. It’s unclear how all of these factions will come together as of now.
Age of Empires IV will be developer Relic Entertainment’s first independent project done for a publisher other than SEGA, its owner. That means it’ll be the first time they’ve worked for Microsoft on a project–especially one of this magnitude. It’s unsure what sort of deal the two publishers and the developer have worked out for this arrangement to happen, but Relic appears to be all in on the deal. The developer had this to say on their website about their upcoming venture:
“[We] couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the 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 fourth game of the series has no connection to the Age of Empires: Definitive Edition that was announced during this year’s PC Gaming Show at E3. We also learned that remastered versions of the second and third Age of Empires are also being developed for release at some point in the future. All of these games, plus Age of Empires IV, will be released exclusively on the PC.
