It has been a long time coming- a very long time coming. Microsoft today has confirmed the return of one of the most beloved franchises of all time, the real time strategy series Age of Empires. At Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires 4 exclusively for Windows 10 PCs, thus marking the return of one of the vanguards of its genre.
Back in the 1990s, Age of Empires, alongside Command and Conquer and Warcraft, used to be one of the three main pillars of the RTS genre. Over time, with the closure of Westwood and Ensemble, and Blizzard moving on from RTSs, all three franchises fell by the wayside – at least as far as RTS entries go (Warcraft is, after all, one of the most popular MMORPGs of all time), and the genre itself fell into disrepair.
For the millions worldwide who grew up with Age of Empires‘ unique brand of base building strategy, the announcement of this new game is welcome news. You can check out the announcement trailer for yourself below- that trailer is literally all we know about the game. Other details, such as what era the game might take place in, are currently unknown (though the trailer did seem to suggest that the game might just cover all eras).