Age of Empires is celebrating its 25th Anniversary and it is doing it in style! The beloved gaming franchise just marked this special anniversary with a livestream event that was filled with nostalgia and exciting announcements. Fans new and old all had things to celebrate and look forward to after the event concluded. Are you curious what all was announced? Well then read on ahead and hear all about it!
Let’s start with the biggest news: Age of Empires is FINALLY heading to consoles! Fans have been asking for these games to make the leap to Xbox for years and it looks like it is finally time. As of now, there are two Age of Empires titles making the move. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will hit Xbox on January 31, 2023 and Age of Empires IV will debut on the Xbox sometime later in the year. AoE II will launch on Game Pass and be available to be played via Cloud as well. It will feature a tutorial to orient players to using a controller for the RTS experience, while also having the option for full keyboard and mouse support on the console. There will even be the option for crossplay between Xbox and PC players for those who dare to.
In celebration of the anniversary, there are events happening across 3 different games as well. Age of Empires IV, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition all have special events happening and Age of Empires IV has been updated to the Anniversary Edition! There’s even fun to be had outside of the Age of Empires games. State of Decay 2 has an Age of Empires II hoodie you can receive for free before Nov 7 and Forza Horizon 5 has a custom livery for the Ford Ranger Raptor!
No anniversary event is complete without a look at what’s coming next. Luckily, this Age of Empires event got the memo and gave fans two exciting announcements. First, Age of Empires is coming to mobile! While many are tired of the “<insert franchise> is coming to mobile” trend, Age of Empires makes perfect sense as a mobile game. While it’s been tried before, the brief look in the trailer seems like this attempt is more faithful to the property as a whole. Second, nostalgia went into overdrive as a new Age of Mythology game was announced: Age of Mythology Retold! Well, it’s not exactly a new game but it has been highly requested. Age of Mythology Retold will serve as the definitive edition of Age of Mythology complete with updated graphics, gameplay, and more to honor the classic and bring it into the modern PC era.
Age of Empires is a massive property that has been loved for its 25 years of existence. New fans arrive every day and now, even more gamers will have the chance to experience the magic that is Age of Empires.
Image from: Xbox
