Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

Age of Empires IV — Patch 11963

Patch 11963 is releasing later this week, and we're here to provide a preview of what's to come for Age of Empires IV!

For Patch 11963, we’re continuing to hone in on tighter win rates across the range of possible civilization match-ups and making changes to complement some of the updates introduced earlier in the month. With every new patch, we make sure to observe the reaction and response to the changes made – including how they impact critical data like selection and win rates, and how our community responds to them in our social channels!

What we noticed after our last patch is that the changes made to siege may have overly impacted the Chinese, as a result we’re making some changes this time around to provide the Chinese new strategic options. Additionally, we’re looking to slow down the early game of the Mongols and Delhi Sultanate by tuning starting resources, research bonuses and more. We believe these changes will increase your arsenal of gameplay choices moving forward.

NOTE: Upon updating to this patch, you will no longer be able to utilize replays from previous updates. At times, saves will also be impacted, though we’ve taken additional steps to ensure your campaign saves are not impacted by this particular update. Skirmish saves from the previous patch are impacted and will no longer be accessible after you update.

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[h3]Developer Discussion Stream[/h3]
Join us on Twitch at 3PM PT on Tuesday, March 1 for a pre-patch stream as members of the Community and Balance teams will be discussing the upcoming changes. Tune in at twitch.tv/ageofempires.

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You can find details on these changes and more below!

Server Maintenance - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, February 23, 2022, @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 22:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1 - 2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires IV (Steam / Microsoft Store)

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, February 23rd, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. Please note:

Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.

Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.

DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

To prevent any interruptions, we recommend wrapping up any games at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window. The downtime is expected to last 1 to 2 hours. You can watch this thread with any changes to the schedule as they arise, as well as the all-clear when the maintenance is complete.

Thank you for your patience!

Age of Empires IV — Patch 11009

Later this week you’ll be able to download the latest patch for Age of Empires IV. Here's an early look at what's coming your way!

In Patch 11009, we’re focused on responding to a number of items you as the players have brought to our attention! As always, we appreciate you for acting as our compass, as we continue to balance and improve.

This time around, we’re making some general changes to siege to ensure that the mechanic is intentional, removing animation cancelling’s impact on rate of fire to re-focus on high-level strategy, and doing another pass on balance for a variety of our civilizations. Read on for the full list of patch notes, including in-depth developer descriptions of why these adjustments were made!

NOTE: Upon updating to this patch, you will no longer be able to utilize replays from previous updates. Campaign and Skirmish saves from the previous patch are impacted and will no longer be accessible after you update.

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Developer Discussion Stream[/h3]

Join us on Twitch Today (February 7th) at 3:00PM PT for a special pre-patch stream as members of the Community and Balance teams will be discussing the upcoming changes. Tune in at twitch.tv/ageofempires!

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Read on for a detailed view of the changes you’ll be able to try out starting today!

Server Maintenance - Wednesday, January 26, 2022

WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, January 26, 2022, @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 22:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1 - 2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
Age of Empires IV (Steam / Microsoft Store)

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, January 26th, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. Please note:

Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.

Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.

DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

Age of Empires 4's next patch speeds up matchmaking, slows down scouts

The next patch for real-time strategy game Age of Empires IV will be available January 19, and it's making some small but impactful changes. In addition to a balance pass on most of the strategy game's civilizations, it's also reducing the amount of time you'll have to wait for a multiplayer game by making its matchmaking system a bit less picky.

The developers at Relic and World's Edge say they've been keeping an eye on matchmaking queue times, and they've found that the system is a bit too discriminating - it can take a few minutes before it settles on another evenly-skilled player. In the upcoming patch, the developers have sped up the time it takes for the matchmaking system to broaden its search to a wider pool of players by 67%.

Not everything is speeding up, however. Scouts across the board are going to be 35% slower while carrying animal carcasses, and the Rus' warrior monks are getting slowed by 25% whilst carrying relics. The devs say this should open up more counter-play options, and it should at least have the effect of making scouts less reliable as a source for food in the early game - they'll be vulnerable if used for this task.

Read the rest of the story...