Age of Empires IV announced, developed by Relic Entertainment

A new Age of Empires game, Age of Empires IV, is in development for Windows 10 (PC), Microsoft Studios announced today.

The Age of Empires series were well-liked RTS games developed by the now-defunct Ensemble Studios, with the last game, Age of Empires III, released in 2005. In Ensemble’s stead, Relic Entertainment has been engaged to make Age of Empires IV. This is also the studio behind other sterling real-time strategy games such as Homeworld, Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. So it looks like Age of Empires IV will be in great hands.

No release window have been set for the game yet, and the announcement was only accompanied by the above trailer, which showed concept arts of ancient Rome to the American Revolution. Perhaps the only tiny bit of information it gave away was that naval units will be making an appearance in the game.

The Age of Empires games also harked back to the days when Microsoft made or published some very good games for Windows, including Crimson Skies, MechCommander 2, the Flight Simulator series, Freelancer and Rise of Nations, just to name a few. Could this be the start of a PC games renaissance by Microsoft?

Separately, Microsoft also announced that Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, a remake (and remastered in 4K) of the nearly 20-year-old Age of Empires, will be released Oct. 19. It will only be available on Windows 10 in the Windows Store.