Wololo! Today marks another milestone in the journey of the Age of Empires franchise at X019 in London.
Earlier this year, we announced that Age of Empires now has a dedicated studio as part of the Xbox Game Studios family. Today, we unveiled that our studio, led by Shannon Loftis, is named World’s Edge. Spanning multiple disciplines, our team of seasoned game developers is directing, guiding, innovating and caring for the legacy of Age of Empires. Working alongside development partners, we’re breathing new life into our previous titles with Definitive Editions like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launching today, as well as working on Age’s next chapter, Age of Empires IV.
We know that our community has been eager to learn more about Age of Empires IV since we announced it at gamescom in 2017. We’ve been hard at work on the game and we’re excited to share some of it with the world today. As part of Inside Xbox, live from X019 in London, we revealed a first look at the game with an all-new trailer. We hope we’ve given you enough to discuss and theorize! As the footage said, we’re pre-Alpha. So while we’ve come a long way, we will continue to put in our best work to ensure it lives up to the Age of Empires name.
As I mentioned, today isn’t just about World’s Edge and Age of Empires IV – it’s also the launch day for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This truly is the definitive version of the game, bringing back everything that made the original game so special and wrapping it in a modern package that looks and sounds like it belongs in 2019. We’ve listened to the community to learn what they loved most about the game and where we could improve the experience, and have also added brand new content in the form of “The Last Khans” to delight both existing and new players.
Launch day is just the beginning. There will be ongoing support for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and we’ll be focused on providing continuous value and a great experience for our community. This includes quality of life and balance improvements, new game modes, new missions, advanced tutorials to sharpen your skills and even more that we’re not ready to share just yet. We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who took part in our closed beta and worked with us over the last few months.
There’s never been a better time to be an Age of Empires Insider. If you have yet to join our program, head to ageofempires.com to sign up and catch up on our latest news, post in our forums and find links to all our social media accounts. We’re committed to listening to our community, so make sure you’re part of the conversation!
Thank you to every one of you who’s loved, played and discussed Age of Empires in its journey so far. We’re looking forward to strengthening the relationship between Age developers and our players. The team and I are thrilled about our future, together.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is available now on Windows 10, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass for PC (beta), and Steam. Time to ready up!