When Microsoft acquired and closed Ensemble Studios we all thought that was the end of our beloved Age of Empires series. Most of the previous Ensemble Studios developers had moved on to new studios such as Robot Entertainment who made the Orcs Must Die series. But do not despair, my friends, Age of Empires is back! This week at Gamescom, Microsoft officially announced Age of Empires 4 (IV) and released the sweet teaser trailer below.
Age of Empires 4 Announce Trailer
Who is developing Age of Empires 4?
So who is making Age of Empires 4 you may ask? Company of Heroes and Homeworld developer Relic is making Age of Empires 4. Relic has never worked on Age of Empires before but are masters of RTS and entertaining games. Hopefully, Age of Empires 4 doesn’t include any historical accuracy drama like Company of Heroes 2 which ended up banned in Russia.
Relic officially announced they have begun production of Age of Empires 4 on their website and blog. Further, Relic expressed their excitement about working on the Age of Empires series which they have loved since their own creation in 1997. In their announcement post Relic said
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.
Age of Empires Definitive Edition release date announced and remakes of Age of Empires 2 and 3
In addition, Gamescom revealed October 19th, 2017 as the release date for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. There’s no better way to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Age of Empires than telling us we’re getting more! Much like the remake, Starcraft Remastered, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition aims to preserve the feel of the original game while bringing it in line with today’s gameplay expectations. Age of Empires: Definitive Edition’s closed beta starts today, August 23rd. Check out some of the new features found in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.
- Attack Move
- 250-300 population cap
- Rally Points Basic
- Rally Points Contextual (Intelligent Villagers)
- Grid default key layout
- Select Idle Military
- Select Idle Villagers
- Unit queueing
- Right-click mouse scroll
Another awesome detail announced at Gamescom revealed Age of Empires 2 and 3 would also both get remastered Definitive Editions. Come back to Gamers Greed for news on Age of Empires 4 gameplay trailer and a release date announcement!
