Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

Beat the Heat with the Steam Summer Sale!

The Steam Summer Sale is happening now! Complete your Age of Empires collection and grab a couple of DLCs with up to 75% off on all your favorites - it’s time to Age up your Summer!

Don’t wait – sale ends July 10th at 10 AM PT (17:00 UTC).

Age of Empires IV – Season Eleven Update Preview 14.0.4963

Hello Age of Empires IV community and welcome to a shiny, new Season Eleven update preview! Coming next week, we’ve got lots of exciting things in store with a new event, updates to enemy AI, a bevy of balance changes and bugfixes, plus a fun new game mode! You can read all the details in the update below.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

💬 DISCUSS: Official Forum
💬 DISCUSS: Steam Forum
🗣 JOIN: Official Discord

Thanks again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team

Please Note: As part of updating to this latest build, any saved games and observable matches made on previous builds will be unable to be loaded or replayed.

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        ◆Update 14.0.4963◆

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[h2]Season Eleven[/h2]

Not all battles are taken through sheer might – some are won through keen eyes, smart trades, and meticulous attention to detail…claim your victory as the winds of trade bellow, and never let your enemies know your next move! It’s time to get the upper hand against your enemies with Season Eleven’s first event, Trade Secrets!

Starting today, June 26th, login to complete some fun challenges and prove your worth!

[h3]Trade Secrets Event[/h3]

[h3]New Seasonal Game Mode: Chaotic Climate![/h3]
Introducing New Seasonal Game Mode: Chaotic Climate! Playable in skirmish and multiplayer, this game mode cycles through the four seasons, introducing unique global effects over time. View the current seasonal effect from the Town Center.

Chaotic Climate will be available to play today, June 26th!

[h3]Ranked Season Eleven Updates [/h3]
Things are heating up this summer as the leaderboards are once more ablaze with worthy contenders! We’re kicking off Season Eleven with a series of rewards for both solo and team ranked. Bring things to a boil as you climb your way up the ranks – Season Eleven begins on June 26th.

[h3]Map Pool Rotation[/h3]
We’re back with another map pool rotation to kick off Season Eleven! Prove your skill and best your rivals on this fresh set of battlegrounds.
v1 Ranked Map Pool
Boulder Bay → Archipelago
Four Lakes → Canal
High View → Altai
Relic River → Rocky River
Lipany → Hill & Dale
Team Ranked Map Pool
Prairie → Hideout
Continental → African Waters
Mongolian Heights → Hedgemaze
Rugged → Nagari
Waterlanes → Relic River

[h3]Map Monsters Game Mode Returns[/h3]
We've also brought back an old favorite - the Map Monsters game mode!

[h3]AI Updates[/h3]
AI players will now have increased defense for their or their allies’ wonders.
Hard AI and higher will now retreat in a more efficient manner.
Fixes for AI upgrades research:
Lettre de Change (Knights Templar)
Treasure Towers (Knights Templar)
Templar Brother (Knights Templar)
Cistercian Abbeys (Holy Roman Empire)

When playing Nomad mode, AI monarchs will now correctly path towards their corresponding Town Center in early game.
In early Nomad mode, vulnerable AI monarchs will now attempt to flee if attacked.
Holy Roman Empire AI players will now train Black Rider units.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Play the New Rise to Ruin Event

Dynasties rise and fall, and all great kingdoms meet their demise with time. Dethrone your enemies and preserve your legacy in Season Ten’s final event, Rise to Ruin!

Complete a series of all-new challenges to claim your rewards before the ranked season reaches its conclusion. Prepare for epic battles that will test your determination! Rise to Ruin begins today, June 11th and will run through the remainder of the season.

After years of waiting, beloved RTS Age of Empires 4 is finally super cheap

Age of Empires 4 took me by surprise. I'm a cast-iron AoE 2 acolyte. More broadly, I think the visual design of RTS games peaked in the '90s - Command and Conquer, Jagged Alliance, and Total Annihilation remain three of the best-looking games of all time, regardless of genre. In theory, AoE 4, which is a real-time strategy game in 3D (I know!) shouldn't work for me. But Relic, World's Edge, and Forgotten Empires' sequel is a more-than-deserving companion to AoE 2. If you haven't played it before, the gigantic Deluxe edition is now available for ultra-cheap.

Read the rest of the story...

Age of Empires Becomes the Louvre’s First Gaming Partnership

[p]Today we are thrilled to announce that Age of Empires is partnering with the world’s most-visited museum, the Louvre in Paris![/p][p]On April 30th, the Louvre launched an exhibition on the Mamluk sultanate (1250-1517), a European first. The exhibition aims to share the story of this golden age of the Islamic Near East, showcasing its breadth and richness, all told from a transregional perspective. The Mamluks appear in three Age of Empires titles and players around the world have discovered their prowess and story through our games since 1999.[/p][p]With a shared passion for history at its heart, this collaboration between Age of Empires and the Louvre serves to share the story of the Mamluks to people around the world and encourage them to learn more about this golden age of medieval history, which isn’t often told.[p]Throughout the month of June, we’ll be collaborating both at the museum in Paris and online. For an overview of our collaboration, check our dedicated webpage.[p]
[/p][p][/p][p]You’ll be able to experience content from the partnership at the museum, on our websites, on social media and via the first ever livestream from the museum, on June 12th, starting at 11:00 AM PT (2:00 PM ET / 18:00 UTC).[p]We are so honored to be working with the Louvre, we share a passion for sharing the stories of history with the world
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[p]World’s Edge is honored to collaborate with Le Louvre. The Age of Empires franchise has been bringing history to life for more than 65 million players around the world for almost 30 years. We’ve always believed in the great potential for our games to spark an interest in history and culture. We often hear of teachers using Age of Empires to teach history to their students and stories from our players about how Age of Empires has driven them to learn more, or even to pursue history academically or as a career. This opportunity to bring the amazing stories of the Mamluks to new audiences through the Louvre’s exhibition is one we’re excited to be a part of. We hope that through the excellent work of the Louvre’s team, the legacy of the Mamluks can be shared around the world, and that people enjoy their stories as they come to life through Age of Empires.

— Michael Mann, Studio Head at World’s Edge[/p]

[/p][h3]The Mamluks in Age of Empires[/h3][p][/p][p]The Mamluks have been an iconic part of the Age of Empires franchise since Age of Empires II (1999). Players today can experience these mighty warriors in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, and in Age of Empires IV (via the best-selling Sultans Ascend DLC).[/p][p]There’s more information about how you can play as the Mamluks in Age games on our partnership webpage.[/p][p][/p][h3]Play as the Mamluks in an All-New Scenario[/h3][p][/p][p]To celebrate the partnership, we’re releasing a brand new custom scenario for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on PC, “Ayn Jalut”. Created by World’s Edge Senior Business Manager, and famed Age campaign designer, Ramsey Abdulrahim. In this scenario, you play as Baybars before the pivotal battle when the fate of the Muslim world held in the balance. Prepare your forces, set up your ambushes, and use your cunning and strategy to overcome the Mongol horde. Like the Mamluks, can you be the first to defeat the Mongols?[/p][p]When finished, try again and best your friends for the highest score![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]The entire world trembled before the Mongols. Rulers of China and Persia, the fearsome horsemen swept through the cities of the Islamic world, leaving ruins. Only Baybars and the Mamluks of Egypt stood in their way. Baybars had gathered an army at Ayn Jalut, the site where the Biblical David slew the giant Goliath. Baybars had been born a thousand miles away, but he knew the Mongols well: they had slaughtered his family and sold him–as a mere boy–into slavery. At Ayn Jalut, he was determined to have his revenge–and slay his own giant.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]The Mamluks and the Exhibition[/h3][p][/p][p]The Mamluks, freed slave-soldiers of primarily Turkish (and later Caucasian) origin, built their legend on their military prowess. They conquered the last bastions of the Crusaders, fought and repelled the Mongols, survived Timur’s invasions and kept threatening neighbors at bay, before succumbing to Ottoman expansion. The sultanate encompassed a vast territory, including Egypt, Bilad al-Sham (modern day Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Jordan), parts of Eastern Anatolia and the Hejaz region of Arabia, which includes Mecca and Medina.[/p][p]The exhibition takes visitors beyond the military legend of the Mamluk sultanate and shows the complex and multi-faceted society they formed. They created a world in which sultans mingled with emirs and rich civil elites, all actively engaging in artistic patronage. Women had active roles in Mamluk society, as well as Christian and Jewish minorities. At the meeting point of Europe, Africa and Asia, people and ideas circulated, as well as arts and trade.[/p][p]The exhibition is an unprecedented opportunity to discover this glorious and yet little-known empire, through a collection of masterpieces from around the world. Visitors will be exposed to a new perspective on medieval Egypt and the Near East.
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[p][/p][p][hr][/hr]To make sure you can enjoy all the partnership content, make sure you’re following Age of Empires and the Louvre on social media![/p]