Among the contents of Season 1 for Century: Age of Ashes are the addition of a new class—the Stormraiser—as well as a new map and new progression through the Dragon Pass. The game also features ranked seasons, live events, and an upcoming PvE event.

Players subscribed to PlayStation Plus will also get the Dolkuni Lagoon Pack as an exclusive reward, and according to the studio, there will be more rewards for PS Plus subscribers throughout the year.

The PS4 and PS5 versions for Century: Age of Ashes were originally set to release on July 19, but the studio announced a delay just hours before its originally-planned release date. The studio stated that the delay was because the PlayStation versions needed more time before they could be released.

Century: Age of Ashes has been out on PC since December, and saw a release on Xbox consoles earlier this year. For more details, check out our review of the game.

Century: Age of Ashes is a free-to-play multiplayer title where players pilot dragons and battle in arenas. Four game modes are available, with three classes to choose from. Season 1: A Shadow Over Skeld is underway, which adds a new story arc, The Valkurian Sanctuary map, and a new class, the Stormraiser. A battle pass is also available with more than 70 rewards.

For more details on the base game, check out our review here. Century: Age of Ashes is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam. Stay tuned for more details on the PlayStation versions when they launch this Monday.

https://twitter.com/PlayCentury/status/1572979282606964740

The game will now launch for PS5 and PS4 sometime this Summer. Playwing says it’s made the decision to delay the game’s PlayStation version in order to make sure it’s up to expectations, but assures that it won’t be long before it’s out, and that a specific release date will be announced soon.

“Passing certification on PlayStation—what we call “going gold”—right off the back of the Xbox One release and the launch of the debut season, “A Shadow Over Skeld” is a tough challenge,” the developer wrote. “Therefore, we are going to need a little more time to ensure we meet the quality standards to ship on these two platforms.

“We know not sharing an exact release date may raise some concerns, but rest assured, bringing Century: Age of Ashes is our next big release. Our team are currently hard at work debugging the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions, while also polishing up the recently released Xbox One version. Season 1 is also being worked on for its balancing issues and prepping for future content. This is now the last stretch before Century takes flight on PlayStation, which means it’s just a matter of days before we share a release date with you all.”

Century: Age of Ashes originally launched for PC back in December, followed by a launch on Xbox Series X/S earlier this year, then Xbox One earlier this month. Read our review of the game through here.

Today, we’ve decided to push back the release date of Century: Age of Ashes on PS4 and PS5 to Summer 2022.

More details here: pic.twitter.com/iGakoqyylr

— Century: Age of Ashes (@PlayCentury) July 18, 2022

Along with the base game, console players can dive into Season 1: A Shadow Over Skeld. This offers a new class and Dragon, the Stormraiser which uses thunder against foes and requires 850 Gems or 20,000 Iron Coins to unlock. A new map, The Valkürian Sanctuary, is also playable along with a new Story Arc that plays out over seven Tomes.

Season 1 also marks the introduction of the Dragon Pass, which costs 950 Gems and includes over 70 Rewards. Players can also partake in new features like Seasonal Events, a new Ranked Season and more (along with new gameplay mechanics like Dodge).

Century: Age of Ashes is also available for PC. Check out our review for it here.

Playwing has confirmed that tomorrow, on July 12, Century: Age of Ashes will launch for Xbox One. This will be followed a week later, on July 19, by the game finally coming to PS5 and PS4 as well. Last year, Playwing announced that the game would also launch for iOS and Android devices sometime in 2022, though there’s no word yet on when exactly we can expect those versions.

In our review of Century: Age of Ashes at launch, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Century: Age of Ashes combines a great mix of ideas for an approachable, fun free-to-play game.” You can read the full review through here.

Century: Age of Ashes is currently available on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

The map, called Valkürian Sanctuary, is set in an abandoned- well, sanctuary. Unsurprisingly, there’s plenty of verticality on offer, and what seems like a good mix of tight flight paths weaving in and around structures and interiors, and more open areas where players will be able to flight unimpeded. More details on the map will likely be arriving ahead of launch, but it certainly seems to make a decent first impression. Check out the trailer below.

Century: Age of Ashes is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S, and will also launch for Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 sometime later this year.

Taking to Twitter via the game’s official page, Playwing recently announced that Century: Age of Ashes will launch for Xbox Series X/S in under a month, on March 10. The game will feature full cross-play and cross-progression across Xbox and PC- as well as later versions. Speaking of which, Century: Age of Ashes is also due out for PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices sometime in 2022, though dates for those versions haven’t yet been announced.

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Century: Age of Ashes combines a great mix of ideas for an approachable, fun free-to-play game.” You can read our full review through here.

https://twitter.com/PlayCentury/status/1494355968901013511

"While only time will truly be able to tell us whether or not Century: Age of Ashes has the ability to really stick, at this early stage of the game’s life, it does seem to have enough going for it in terms of vigorous gameplay, addictive systems, and a meaningful sense of identity to at least have a substantial shot at being a thing."

At first, it seems that what you have with Century: Age of Ashes is a traditional aerial dogfighting game that just plops dragons and a fantasy setting into the slots where you would normally see fighter jets and modern warzones. While that might still ring true after getting to know it better, it does quickly become apparent that developer Playwing has gone out of their way in a number key of areas to really make it feel like more than that. Age of Ashes wastes little time before getting you into the action. After a brief but necessary tutorial, you then start down a road of different modes becoming available to you as you level up and progress, and the process is paced out quite well as I found new interesting elements of the game making themselves known right about when I was naturally starting to look for them.

The 3v3 rookie mode is first up, and it offers a simpler version of the 6v6 carnage mode to get your feet wet. Mastering the ins and outs of the game’s three classes is paramount, so you might as well get that done first. The healing and illusive windguards, stealthy yet powerful phantoms, and the well-rounded assault Marauder class all feel like meaningful additions that complement each other well without falling too far into the familiar class tropes that so many free-to-play multiplayer game characters do. Getting to know all of their passive abilities, active attacks, and unique rage powers is quite the thrill, as none of them made me feel like I wanted to go back to some comfort zone. That said, I did find the cloaking abilities mixed with the high damage attacks of the phantom perhaps made it a tad OP, but not by so much that a well-balanced opposing team couldn’t still give me plenty of trouble – and that is a good sign that the game has been through a lot of testing and adjustments. Overall, I’d say each of the three classes are well-balanced and leave little room for further tweaking. This makes me all the more curious about what the mysterious future fourth class that the game’s main screen hints at might bring to the table.

Much like the classes, I’d say the three primary game modes are also a nice mix of ideas. The 6v6 carnage mode – which is essentially a basic death match – might feel like the main pillar of them all to some, but I think I enjoyed the Spoils of War most. In this mode, players are scrambling to acquire gold from NPC dragons as well as opposing players and bank it in their nest. Protecting the nest while making sure more gold is being brought in to maintain your lead is a fun back and forth than can flip the dynamics of any match on a dime.

"Much like the classes, I’d say the three primary game modes are also a nice mix of ideas."

On top of that, there’s Gates of Fire which ultimately functions as a slight spin on “capture the flag”. Here, you can fly through multiple gates while holding the flag to keep racking up the score for your team, but of course the more you do that, the more of a target you become. The matches here can turn around quickly as well if either team slips up too badly. Having helpful items like armor and stamina boosts scattered around the maps also help keep things interesting. Unlike the variety of modes, however, the maps themselves all bleed together a bit for me. An effort was clearly made to give them all a different feel in terms of their arrangement of objects, but there’s really only so many ways you can rearrange the same-looking rock formations. Some more variety here either with different weather or times of day for the maps – if not just different types of locals altogether – would have really gone a long way. But as it stands, map variety is probably the game’s weakest point at the moment.

Thankfully the game doesn’t just leave you hanging when it comes to different metrics to build on and things to work toward. Customizations for your rider and your dragon are just interesting enough to be worth tinkering with, although I never came across any one piece of clothing or armor that really made me feel like I had a particularly unique look. However, I did get a nice sense of progression and meaning out of acquiring dragon eggs, hatching them, and accomplishing various “growth steps” so they would grow into an adult that I could actually ride into battle. The growth steps themselves are little more than generic tasks to accomplish in matches – usually, along the lines of “killing x number of enemies in y fashion” and they don’t really make a lot of sense in the context of raising a baby dragon to an adult, but they do give you something to work toward that isn’t just different colored helmets and saddles. Hopefully the variety of dragon types can continue to be iterated upon because I think this is where most of the potential for expressing yourself seems to lie. It’s also important to note that the game’s many available in-game purchases – including other dragons – are cosmetic only.

Given that games with 360 degrees of movement can so easily slip into complete disarray, the moment-to-moment gameplay of Century: Age of Ashes is where they really needed to get it right and it seems like Playwing was very aware of that. The game is smooth and responsive all while still keeping the feeling of controlling a giant flying monster at the forefront of the experience. Being able to brake in mid-air to slow down and take sharper turns is great, as is the ability to utilize a soft-locked close-range fire breathing attack that ensures you have options at all times in battle. The locking on for ranged weapons is similarly soft and feels just right to me in terms of giving me the right sized window to land shots on enemies while evading theirs. That’s not to say I don’t think there are some spots where the gameplay could further be improved though. Smoothing over some of the collision detections of various surfaces – especially in tight corridors and tunnels – could be a tad more liberal as these areas can become a mess if not navigated 100% perfectly, and I would have also appreciated less of my screen covered up by the dragon’s more flamboyant animations – especially when suddenly changing direction as I’m trying to evade enemy fire. As much as I like how the dragons look, I still think seeing as much of the battlefield as possible is more important.

"Century: Age of Ashes is a game that has the benefit of sharing some great gameplay ideas from other genres, yet also manages to use enough of its own twists to feel like its own thing and carve out its own lane."

The epic music that accompanies the menu screens as well as the final moments of battle really sell the overall tone of the game. The soundtrack falls short of the fantasy movies and TV shows it seems inspired by, but not by much. More importantly though, it fits the game’s visuals and action about as well as you could expect.

Century: Age of Ashes is a game that has the benefit of sharing some great gameplay ideas from other genres, yet also manages to use enough of its own twists to feel like its own thing and carve out its own lane. This is a rarity in the free-to-play world. It also has several layers of extra effort put into its gorgeous graphics, tight gameplay, and fun progression that greatly enhance the overall experience. The lack of variety in a couple key areas and some mildly annoying sections of the maps do hold it back some, but not nearly enough to keep it from being a game that you should absolutely try.

This game was reviewed on PC.

There are three classes to choose from – Windguard, which can defend and disorient foes; Marauder for tracking and damage; and Phantom for sneaking and trapping. There are three modes currently available – Carnage, a 6v6 team deathmatch mode with power-ups; Gates of Fire which sees teams capturing each other’s flags and flying through gates for points; and Spoils of War, where players battle AI enemies and the opposing team to earn gold and bank it in their nests.

Founder’s Packs are available with different cosmetics to customize one’s rider and dragon (though some can be earned in-game as well). Additional classes are planned for future updates – head here for more details on post-launch plans. Though available only on PC at present, Century: Age of Ashes will also be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and mobile devices in 2022.

"The idea was clearly to create a fun and fast-paced aerial combat game with high-end flight sensations. A game that would stand out from its competitors by offering a rich universe in which intense battles take place, and allowing players to ride mythical creatures like dragons – beasts with a strong cultural imprint – rather than piloting lifeless vehicles."

How did the idea for a dragon battle multiplayer game come out? Was it a result of wanting to fill a void in the industry for this type of game, or to deliver a more unique multiplayer experience?

The idea was clearly to create a fun and fast-paced aerial combat game with high-end flight sensations. A game that would stand out from its competitors by offering a rich universe in which intense battles take place, and allowing players to ride mythical creatures like dragons – beasts with a strong cultural imprint – rather than piloting lifeless vehicles.

We all keep a special place in our hearts for fantastical worlds in which iconic creatures are of the highest importance, and dragons have always been a prime candidate for movies, series and animation pictures. We wanted to create a gameplay experience like none-other, where dragons and riding them would be central, recreate their bestiality, their power, their speed, their agility.

Given its very premise, the simple act of moving around in the game is bound to be much faster and more kinetic than most games. What’s been your approach to map design in light of that?

You’re totally right. We designed our maps based on several precise aspects that were already in our concept art during the early stages of development of the game.

We approached them like open combat arenas with epic sceneries and extreme verticality to deliver intense sensations of flight and liberty. We worked precisely on scales and lengths in each set element to take into account your dragons’ movements so the exhilarating feeling you get when rushing and ‘finesse-riding’ comes from a balance of risk and reward.

Maps were built in a very specific way so you can explore multiple sub-areas (wide open areas, with very few cover elements or obstacles, where you’re an easy target; and narrow areas, dense and intricate, where you can hide from your opponent but it’s also trickier to target others), and all of them are connected so players aren’t blocked, flight stays smooth and natural.

Each of these zones bring different levels of challenge based on their density of elements and flow routes. They allow players to express themselves depending on their skills, choices of class, weapons, specialisation, strategy in combat and whether they’re the “prey” or “predator”.

Last but not least, maps layouts in Century: Age of Ashes have been built to offer spectacular, highly cinematic, combat areas where movements are driven by where gameplay elements – specific to each game mode – are scattered (power-ups, air vents, etc…), but also by the trace of energy tunnels and pools reflecting on ground, rock or water surfaces, that players can go through to build-up their boost and reach full flight speed.

"Our main objective was to provide a whole realm of potential playstyles without sucking the blood out of our straightforward core gameplay."

What can you tell us about the classes, in terms of not only how much they will differ from each other in their attributes and play styles, but also how they can work together in interesting ways?

Our main objective was to provide a whole realm of potential playstyles without sucking the blood out of our straightforward core gameplay.

An approach we had from the start was to avoid “percentage-based design”, like having a class deal +5% fireball damage or another one being able to turn 10% faster… In a game as fast-paced as ours, we could not afford to do these slight tweaks just for the sake of doing them, or the whole experience would grow increasingly cluttered for the player each time we added a new character. And that’s not even considering the potential balancing issues.

We thus felt comfortable deciding that each class would have access to the same basic attacks (Fireballs and Flamebreath) and have the exact same movement set. Where we strived for distinctiveness, however, was in the development of the different abilities and powers.

Each class has access to a unique, gameplay-defining power. For instance, the Phantom -as its name would suggest- can turn invisible in an instant. On top of that, a player can choose between two secondary abilities depending on their playstyle. For instance, a Phantom player might want to pick the Mines if they are feeling strategic, or the Blast if they want to play more of an assassin-type character.

On top of these, we added a passive skill to each class in order to make higher-level gameplay a bit more interesting. For instance, Windguards can shield their allies… but enemy Phantoms have the ability to pretty much one-shot shields thanks to their passive. However, if a Phantom tries to Blast a Windguard, the pushback will not be as strong as on other characters, thanks to her passive.

Regarding team strategy, it’s as much a matter of classes as it is a matter of game mode. In Gates of Fire for instance, it’s probably best to coordinate with other Windguards in order to protect your Flag carrier efficiently. However, you also want to shut down the enemy team’s carrier, so having Marauders on your side is a viable option as well. I even heard that the most perfidious Phantom players actually set mines on the Gates themselves…

How extensive will the customization options in the game be?

Customization in Century: Age of Ashes offers thousands of combinations to build your identity and leave your mark in the rich and vast dark fantasy world we’re building – the way you want it to be. At its center are Riders and Dragons. Both are tightly bound together in a fusional relationship; so when you select a class of rider, you also select its corresponding species of dragon. And we offer several customizations options specifically designed for each duo available in the game, at different levels of rarity (Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary).

You’ll have the possibility to customize your riders and dragons with a total of 11 slots: 6 for your rider – Head, Cape, Torso, Right Hand (shields), Left Hand (weapons), Legs – and 5 for your dragon – Dragon, Cranium, Chest, Tail and Saddle.

Whilst most customizations are obtainable via usual means, new Dragons are adopted via a toothier system: baby dragons. This different take on collection requires you to acquire eggs when levelling or in the shop, then hatch them in your nest and grow them by completing specific missions. Once you get a full-grown beast, it’s yours to keep!

Talking about collection, Dragons you encounter through various plays and actions will be added to a dedicated Bestiary section. When fully discovered, they receive a unique description that binds them to the lore of Century. We hope lorehounds in our community will enjoy collecting ‘em all to learn all details about our universe.

On top of that, the game offers a range of customization options that we consider must-haves for multiplayer interactions: Taglines to taunt your enemies, Player Icons and Backgrounds, Banners and Titles.

As for the amount of customizations you’ll get, let’s just say there’ll be plenty to match your play style and never run out of ways to terrorize enemies. New rewards will be added during weekly/monthly live events, special activations or partnerships (spoilers). But if you set your eyes on legendary loot, be prepared to fight for it.

"Customization in Century: Age of Ashes offers thousands of combinations to build your identity and leave your mark in the rich and vast dark fantasy world we’re building."

Can you talk about what your post-launch plans for the game are? What can players expect in terms of the frequency and scope of the updates?

First and foremost, our plans at launch are to focus on ensuring an optimal player experience. Our players have expressed a huge interest for the game all throughout its development, it’s all natural we deliver a game that lives up to their expectations – and keeps growing with enticing content, exciting features over the coming months and years. Of course we’ll involve our community in every step of this process.

Century: Age of Ashes is a live game set in a rich dark fantasy world in which you take the reigns of fierce mother-of-all creatures, engage in high-intensity skirmishes to prove your skills and become leader of the pack. All the content due to release post-launch will have the purpose of building upon this identity. It’ll start in December 2021 with a festive event revolving around a limited-time game mode and special customisations. More details to come soon.

Our launch also marks the debut of what we call “Season 0” with a rolling roadmap of live events and updates. Every month, players will have the opportunity to take part in two main events; each with their own set of rules and themed rewards. No spoilers, so let’s just say you’ll find a mix of modes you’ve seen elsewhere (with our own twist), and more unique, refreshing ideas. These events will also serve as testbeds for potential permanent features, and will be key to the launch of our competitive Season 1 later in 2022.

On top of live events, we will roll out regular tentpole updates to introduce core features to the game. For example, we’re working on a fourth Rider class and Dragon species, new maps and a PvE mode. We can’t put a date on these updates yet, and there’ll be plenty more to come so keep your eyes peeled. Century: Age of Ashes has been in development since 2017, so you can rest assured we have quite a few ideas in our bag.

Is there any chance that you end up adding a PvE mode to the game, should players want that?

There is! It’s a rather natural expectation; we’ll keep a very close eye on our community’s feedback regarding this feature – or others. In all cases, we can already confirm our teams are bubbling with ideas to develop an epic and unique PvE mode.

You’ve previously confirmed that all microtransactions in the game will be for cosmetic items only. Will there be some cosmetics that will be exclusive to purchases, or can all cosmetic items be earned in-game?

Indeed, microtransactions for cosmetics and customizations have NO effect on gameplay whatsoever. They’re visual improvements for your enjoyment (and frightening your enemies if that’s your play), a handful of selected dragons will be exclusive to purchases; but there will be no pay-to-win in Century: Age of Ashes.

"Century: Age of Ashes is a live game set in a rich dark fantasy world in which you take the reigns of fierce mother-of-all creatures, engage in high-intensity skirmishes to prove your skills and become leader of the pack. All the content due to release post-launch will have the purpose of building upon this identity."

PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game are announced, but do you have plans to bring the game to the Nintendo Switch as well, especially since it’s coming to mobile some time next year?

Century: Age of Ashes is planned to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One S/X, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X in 2022, and a mobile version is also currently in development. As much as we love the console, there are no plans at the moment to bring the game to the Nintendo Switch.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck, and are you planning any specific optimizations for the device?

The Steam Deck is a really interesting product. Offering a high-end console aimed at the demanding PC audience is no small feat; and Valve have probably learned a lot from their mistakes (R.I.P Steam Machines) to join the hardware segment once again. We’re quite curious to see how it’ll make its way into the market – both from a studio and gamers’ perspective.

At the moment, we’re in a dynamic stance where we build upon our current tech to push the quality of our game to the highest standards, release content that excites players and focus on the new platforms we already confirmed for 2022 before thinking about a new system.

But we’re not ruling out the possibility of Century: Age of Ashes hitting the Deck one day (sorry).