Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

Age of Empires 4 has a firm release date and a new trailer

Climb aboard your war elephant and get your castle wall building hat positioned, because new details about Age of Empires IV have been revealed at the Xbox showcase. The new trailer for the RTS game includes the announcement that the Age of Empires IV release date is set for October 28.

The Steam page for Age of Empires IV was inadvertently set live earlier this week, and that store entry revealed a host of new information and screenshots - which may have taken a bit of the wind out of today's announcement.

The new trailer, which you can view below, shows the new visuals in action - there are naval units, catapults breaching castle walls, and ranks of cavalry charging over hills. It looks lovely, although there are fans who have expressed, eh, some 'concern' over the visual design in this new entry. The Age of Empires IV release date is set for October 28, and it'll be available on Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC.

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Age of Empires IV launching October 28th Available for Pre-order Now

The global Age of Empires community doesn’t have long to wait for the franchise’s next chapter! Age of Empires IV is launching on October 28 on Steam.

After April’s Fan Preview event where we showed the game in detail for the first time, we revealed even more at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase about the latest chapter in the Age of Empires franchise, with two new launch civilizations, a newly-revealed campaign, naval combat and the appearance of Joan of Arc.

So far, the teams at both Relic and World’s Edge have shared that players will have the choice of the English, Mongols, Chinese and Delhi Sultanate at launch, and today’s trailer revealed two more civilizations—the Abbasid Dynasty and the French!

The Abbasid Dynasty’s focus on technology, powered by their unique landmark—the House of Wisdom—will allow players to choose unique upgrade opportunities. Their unique units include Camel Archers and Riders.

The French were revealed alongside the 100 Years War campaign, allowing players to place themselves in the battles fought between the English and French in the 14th and 15th centuries. The French thrive in trade, with the Chamber of Commerce and Royal Institute landmarks helping strengthen a player’s late game. Royal Knights are one of the civilization’s special units with a fearsome charge ability.

Making a heroic appearance in the trailer is French heroine and icon Joan of Arc, who also has a starring role in the game’s key art. Teenage Joan rallied her country and led armies into battle against the occupying English. Age of Empires II fans fell in love with Joan in the title’s campaign and the development teams are excited to see her return.

Back in April, we teased the appearance of ships as the Fan Preview event ended, and today, fans saw naval combat in action. Taking the battle to the water adds a whole new dimension to player strategy and adds new meaning to “sink or swim”!

Pre-Orders are Available Now!

Pre-orders are now open for Age of Empires IV! Head to Steam to reserve your copy. A Digital Deluxe Edition is available on Steam for fans who want even more, including a digital copy of the game’s epic soundtrack as well as other exclusive in-game items. Can’t wait until October 28? Head to ageofempires.com and become an Age Insider to be considered for beta opportunities as well as find more information on the announced civilizations and campaigns. Make history your story with Age of Empires IV, coming October 28 on Steam.

Have questions? Check out the Age of Empires IV official pre-order FAQ here.

—The Age of Empires Team

Age of Empires 4 leaks reveal new screens and details for the RTS game

It looks like we've got some new Age of Empires 4 screenshots and game details to drool over ahead of the RTS game's launch following some leaks that have appeared online. A couple of Redditors have spotted what appears to be a Steam page for the upcoming strategy game that seemingly went live and has now been taken down again, with screenshots revealing a bunch of - not confirmed - but seemingly new info about the title.

Redditor EgoTonic has posted a link to a Steam page for the game which, er, isn't now there, but does seem to confirm its short-lived appearance. The preview in the post shows a new montage image for the game that we've not seen before, but very much in the AoE art style fans know and love. Elsewhere, AoE fan MrBritchesTheBold has captured screenshots of the Steam page which give us a good peek at what's to come.

The Steam page rundown mentions of some of AoE4's eight launch civilizations - the English, Chinese, and Delhi Sultanate, which are already known, alongside the Mongols - as well as "four distinct campaigns with 35 missions that span across 500 years of history from the Dark Ages up to the Renaissance". The page also references playing as figures like Joan of Arc and Genghis Khan in the screens.

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Microsoft addresses Age of Empires 4 fans' concerns over India's representation

Back in April, we reported Age of Empires IV fans' concerns over the game's graphics after its official gameplay reveal. It's a debate that still crops up two months later, but it's not the only thing that followers of the upcoming RTS game are worried about.

Another hot topic appears to be the Delhi Sultanate. Revealed as one of the eight civilisations that will be available at Age of Empires IV's launch (the other three known civs being the English, Mongols, and Chinese), it's currently AOE4's only South Asian civilisation, and the only representation of the Indian subcontinent's medieval history.

Passionate fans on the Age of Empires IV forums have spent the past couple of months discussing why this could be problematic. Essentially, while it's acknowledged that the Sultanate was a legitimate part of the region's history, some are concerned about it being the sole representation of the Indian peoples in the historical strategy game (forum user GKShaman summarises the main points of the discussion in a post earlier this week). Microsoft has now issued a statement to PCGamesN addressing these concerns.

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Age of Empires fans are (still) mad about Age of Empires 4's graphics

April 29, 2021 Yup, they're still angry, but there's also plenty of appreciation going around as well

On April 10, 2021, we were treated to our first real look at the highly anticipated RTS game Age of Empires IV. We learned about the campaign, two new civilisations, some of the new features, and even a little bit about the Age of Empires 4 release date. Also on April 10, concerns appeared on the official Age of Empires forums regarding the game's art style. Weeks later, that debate is still raging.

User Jimmy19846071 started the main thread, voicing their opinion that Age of Empire 4's art style looks "cartoonish". It wasn't the only thread to emerge regarding the graphics, but they've all since been merged into one super-thread keeping the debate in one place. You can also see similar concerns being raised in places like r/pcgaming, as well as the game's official Steam forums.

The debate is multi-faceted; generally speaking, there seems to be a lot of concern from some that the graphics are 'cartoon-ish', although most take umbrage with the game's more subtle visual effects, such as what some fans think are oversized weapons, large arrows, and other less 'realistic' effects.

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