Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

The first major Age of Empires IV LAN tournament has arrived, hosted by Nili. The 8 best Age IV players in the world are competing for their share of the $100,000 prize pool. Fan favorite casters Grubby, Aussie_Drongo, Dave & Nili are guiding you through the show, but with a special twist. The event is held in an apartment, at the GamerLegion Team House in Berlin, Germany, giving the tournament a unique charm—a cozy atmosphere where the players are invited to join the casting desk.

N4C will offer quality casting paired with the sharp analysis of pro players, making it enjoyable for casual viewers and long-time strategy fans alike. TheViper, DeMusliM, MarineLorD, Beastyqt, LucifroN, Vortix, TheMista & Leenock will be vying for the N4C Championship title and the $30,000 first prize for themselves.

[h2]Schedule[/h2]

The action started March 5th with a Group Stage, where the 8 players faced off to determine their standing for the single elimination finale. Then after a day of rest, the players compete in a tense single-elimination round.

[h3]Group Stage: 4 sets daily, all Best of 5, with only 3 rounds remaining.[/h3]

• Monday, March 7th: Round 3 Starting at 13 GMT
  
• Tuesday, March 8th: Round 4 Starting at 13 GMT
  
• Wednesday, March 9th: Round 5 Starting at 13 GMT

[h3]Quarterfinals: Best of 7[/h3]

• Friday, March 11th Starting at 15 GMT

[h3]Semifinals: Best of 7[/h3]

• Saturday, March 12th Starting at 15 GMT

[h3]Grand Finale:[/h3]

• Sunday, March 13th Starting at 14 GMT with a Showmatch
  
• Finals Starting at 17 GMT, Best of 9

[h2]N4C in Short[/h2]

The first LAN environment combined with the biggest prize pool and the highest level of game play AoE IV fans have ever seen. Tune in to Nili’s channel March 5th-13th to see who will become the champion of the first Age of Empires IV LAN tournament.

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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!

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!

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.

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[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!