The classic real-time strategy franchise Age of Empires, which has been published by Microsoft since its debut 25 years ago, is coming to Xbox for the first time in late January. Age of Empires 2: Definitive Editiona 2019 remaster of the 1999 game, is releasing on January 31 via Xbox Game Pass, and it’s more timely Age of Empires 4
The announcement didn’t specify which Xbox consoles would receive the new versions, other than that both games will be available through the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The console versions will continue to support keyboard and mouse input and will also be playable with a controller.
Age of Empires 4 — and all his trebuchets – launched on October 28th, 2021 and on the same day on PC Game Pass.
“We knew bringing the complexity of RTS to Xbox consoles was a daunting task, and one that we needed to approach carefully and thoughtfully,” co-developer World’s Edge said in Tuesday’s statement. “The team worked hard to create an experience that not only feels great with a controller, but also teaches players how to play on Xbox.”
Age of Empire’s controller inputs can be a little tricky, as the game involves a lot of clicking on different units and scrolling around the map. The Xbox versions will include a tutorial showing new users how to play the game, as well as controller-specific inputs. The developers also added in-game AI to make resource management “efficient and intuitive.”
Age of Empires 2 and Age of Empires 4 will support cross-platform play, allowing console users to play alongside Windows PC veterans. So we’ll see later how the Xbox versions stack up against the mouse-and-keyboard rivals.