Age of Empires (AOE) is one of the most iconic strategy games of all time. Despite being more than 20 years old, the franchise has an avid fan-base and has sold more than 25 million copies. The first installment was developed by Ensemble Studios, after which a host of different studios contributed to the development of games further down the line. Microsoft has been the constant for AOE since its inception as the publisher. Recently, they have started to invest heavily in the AOE franchise and have even created a new internal studio dedicated to it. At Gamecloud Technologies, we are fascinated by success stories like this. Age of Empires is one of the very few game franchises to be in development even in its third decade. Was there anything different that Microsoft was doing to make AOE stand out? If yes, what was it? We’ll answer questions like these in this blog.
Age of Empires – The Beginning of an Era
It began with the first AOE game back in 1997. Players act as a leader of an ancient civilization and guide it through four different ages. It was a real-time strategy game that was quite common back then. However, what set the Age of Empires apart from the rest was its historical setting. This was in contrast to most strategy games of the time, which were generally set in a sci-fi or a fantasy world. Age of Empires was a success and received favorable reviews. Next year an expansion pack was released, and a year after that, Age of Empires II was out, after which AOE cemented itself as a renowned name in the strategy games club.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings – The Legacy Continues
In 1999, Ensemble and Microsoft launched Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings after introducing a bunch of new features and gameplay improvements. Despite using the same engine and code as AOE, developers ran into some issues with AOE II due to which they had to delay the launch by almost a year. The first AOE was criticized for its numerous bugs and its AI mechanism. Microsoft and Ensemble didn’t want to repeat this, so they worked tirelessly on design and computer game testing. They developed a more robust AI system and introduced a new terrain system with a 3D presentation.
Their efforts bore fruit, and upon release, AOE II was met with universal praise and critical acclaim. Some, including us at Gamecloud Technologies, consider it as one of the best games of all time. Within three months, Age of Kings had sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and topped sales charts in seven countries.
What is the present-day scenario?
The most recent game from the series was Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which is a remaster of the original title with plenty of improvements like 4K resolution. They have been preoccupied with releasing remastered versions of previous games since 2013. They’re done with beta testing of the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which should be out anytime this year. Microsoft relies on the age-old community of AOE gamers for their feedback on the AOE III: Definitive Edition during the beta testing phase. Players could participate in the testing phase by logging into the AOE website and getting a chance to try out a few missions and join insider sessions. They understand that AOE has become a lifestyle for these gamers, and their feedback is invaluable. Currently, Microsoft is working with Relic Entertainment on the fourth game in the series after making the announcement in 2017. The expected release date is somewhere in 2021, nearly 16 years after AOE III. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they may reconsider the planned released date and extend it by a few months or a year. Generally, gaming companies’ revenues have increased during the pandemic, but the development of new games has stalled.
Conclusion
Games like Age of Empires are made once in a lifetime. To sustain this kind of success for more than two decades is a tremendous achievement. At Gamecloud Technologies, we unearth gems like AOE and probe for reasons that made them so successful. In this case, superior game quality and a unique historic setting seem to have done the trick.
