Great news, nerds, Age of Empires IV was announced today and everyone’s losing their mind.
Relic Entertainment, the studio behind excellent strategy game Company of Heroes, are currently developing the game which will be published on Windows 10 by Microsoft Studios.
AGE OF EMPIRES IV! #AgeOfEmpiresIV is officially in the works! Keep a eye out for more info https://t.co/Ss44bXcHcO https://t.co/sqBlIAcAZV
— Age of Empires (@AgeOfEmpires) August 21, 2017
Details are pretty scarce, but judging from the announcement trailer the game will feature different civilisations across a number of periods, rather than focusing on a singular point in time. Check out the video below.
https://youtu.be/RYwZ6GZXWhA
We have no idea how all of these different factions will fit together, but here’s hoping we don’t have to purchase individual armies like Company of Heroes 2.
Relic made a short post about the announcement on their own website, writing that they “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.”
Age of Empires IV marks the first game Relic will produce for a publisher that isn’t their owner, Sega, since they were purchased at an auction of THQ‘s assets back in 2013.
It’s been a big year for the strategy series, with a remaster of the original game announced at E3 in June – Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. Remastered versions of the second and third games are also in the works.
I can’t bloody wait to give the new game a whirl and I can’t help but wonder if Reddit user le-click was the one who got Bill Gates pumped up enough to make this happen during an AMA last year.
