

And it's maybe different than, as I said, some kind of traditional franchise management. But with Age, though they were sequels obviously, they took different approaches to the RTS and to Age specifically, and so we do think supporting multiple Age products in the market makes sense for us. But I'd say for us, we do think about the games separately, and I know this is different from a lot of franchises where, when you go from N to N+1, you really deprecate the experience on one and it's like, OK, everybody's moved over to the next version of a game. So it is a definitive edition of the game. But we do want to use the same treatment, but we want to go back and make sure that we work experts to make sure we represent the cultures, the people, the stories correctly in today's light. And we want to modernize aspects of them too. It is a definitive edition of Age of Mythology, and as I mentioned, we are ambassadors of these franchises, the cultures, the peoples, the stories. MM: I think that’s the best way to look at it. And we've had a lot of requests over the years for Age of Myth, and I'm glad that we're able to do what you'll see is more of a, because it's been something that the community has been requesting for an awfully long time. So we have a nice collection of games that-while they're all in the Age franchise-they all have very different gameplay styles, very different settings.

The nice thing about the Age franchise, from Age to Age III to Age of Myth, is that Ensemble really came up with very different takes on what the franchise was about, and the gameplay mechanics or even in the case of Age of Myth, what the IP was about and what stories were being told. PS: I think Michael will do a better job giving the details. Does that name essentially mean a definitive edition? I'm interested in what you can tell me about it. The most exciting news, at least from my perspective-and the chat watching the anniversary stream, judging by their reaction-was the announcement of Age of Mythology Retold. But I also want to just reach out and say Tony Goodman, Bruce Shelley, all those individuals just did an amazing job 25 years ago to create this franchise that we're the ambassadors of going forward. I know that World's Edge gets to enjoy the celebration too. Michael Mann: I also want to congratulate Ensemble Studios-they created the franchise 25 years ago. And I'd say the same thing about the announcements about Age coming to console just trying to show the community that we recognize their love of Age of Empires, what it's meant for so many people, and I'm proud that we can now kind of step up and do our side of it as the IP owners and the stewards of the franchise. And getting back to Age with Relic, a partner that knew the genre, we saw it as a great opportunity for us to really just meet the community where they were, with their love of Age. So we had the opportunity to find a good partner. AoE is now a point of real-time-strategy pride and a shining jewel in Microsoft’s roster.

Age IV is building momentum, too, with an anniversary edition crowning a year of updates designed to woo players who found it a tad stripped back at launch. Also, Age of Mythology is finally getting a definitive edition. Age of Empires games are headed for Xbox and mobile devices, complete with cross-play so console gamers can get their hands on the RTS classic and play with their PC-loving friends. In a very real way, it was the passion of these obsessives that led to Microsoft's renewed attention and the release of the franchise's latest entry, 2021’s Age of Empires IV.Īll the games continue to receive updates or DLCs.
#Xbox age of empires 2 Pc#
The rise of the Xbox saw PC gaming take a back seat for Microsoft: Communities like AoE’s were left to fend for themselves. Yet Age of Empires did not always receive the love it does today. And veteran players know that both were right. Age of Empires has echoed Monk wololos about our homes ever since: Parents believed that their kids were learning history kids believed that they were gaming surreptitiously. It’s been 25 years since a small studio in Dallas recast the ancient world through the prism of a real-time strategy game.
