Age of Empires is a series of historical real-time strategy video games, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios.
The first title in the series, Age of Empires, focused on events in Europe, Africa and Asia, spanning from the Stone Age to the Iron Age; the expansion game explored the formation and expansion of the Roman Empire. The sequel, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, was set in the Middle Ages, while its expansion focused partially on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Age of Empires III and its two expansions explored the early modern period, when Europe was colonizing the Americas and several Asian nations were on the decline. Another installment, Age of Empires Online, takes a different approach as a free-to-play online game utilizing Games for Windows Live. A spin-off game, Age of Mythology, was set in the same period as the original Age of Empires, but focused on mythological elements of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. The fourth main installment in the series, Age of Empires IV, was released on October 28, 2021, also focusing on the Middle Ages.
The Age of Empires series has been a commercial success, selling over 25 million copies.
Games
The games in the series focus on historical events throughout time. Age of Empires covers the events between the Stone Age and the Classical period, in Europe and Asia. Its expansion, The Rise of Rome, follows the formation and rise of the Roman Empire. The Age of Kings and its Nintendo DS spin-off follow Europe and Asia through the Middle Ages. The Age of Kings expansion pack, The Conquerors, is set during the same period, but also includes scenarios about the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, El Cid, and Attila the Hun. Age of Empires III and its first expansion, The WarChiefs, take place during the European colonization of the Americas. Its second expansion, The Asian Dynasties, follows the rise of Asia in the same period. Age of Empires Online focuses on the Greek and Egyptian civilizations. The series' spin-off, Age of Mythology, and its expansion pack, The Titans, are set during the Bronze Age, but focus on mythology as their themes, rather than history.
Main series
Age of Empires
Age of Empires, released on October 15, 1997, On May 30, 2019, Microsoft announced that the Definitive Edition would be coming to Steam, along with the Definitive Editions of both Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III.
Age of Empires II
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, released on September 30, 1999, used the Genie game engine, and had gameplay similar to its predecessor.), three new campaigns, a new spectator mode and tournament features, and additional quality of life improvements. It was released on November 14, 2019. Bert Beeckman, co-founder of Forgotten Empires, confirmed on June 12 that Age of Empires II: HD Edition would not be removed from sale after the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III was released on October 18, 2005 and was built on an improved version of the Age of Mythology game engine with the most significant changes being the updated graphics engine and the inclusion of the Havok physics middleware engine.
On January 23, 2020, Microsoft announced a closed beta for early February of that year. Betas ran on Steam and the Microsoft Store, with each beta session including a small piece of the game. The first closed beta session began on February 11, 2020, and ended on February 19, 2020. The second closed multiplayer session began on March 31 and ran until April 7. The game was released on October 15, 2020.
Age of Empires IV
On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announced Age of Empires IV, developed by Relic Entertainment. The title was officially released on October 28, 2021,
The game is set during the Early Middle Ages to the early Renaissance, with the earliest appearance of any civilization being in the year 750. The game features four Ages, the same as those in Age of Empires II — Dark Age, Feudal Age, Castle Age, and Imperial Age.
This title incorporates several features and mechanics of Age of Empires II that were changed or removed in Age of Empires III.
Like other Age of Empires games, Age of Empires IV has received several new civilizations in updates. Recent updates have added the Ottomans, Malians, Byzantines, and Japanese, along with several variants of civilizations already in the game: the Ayyubids, Jeanne d'Arc, Order of the Dragon, and Zhu Xi's Legacy, for a total of 16 civilizations at present.
Spin-off games
Age of Mythology shared many elements of gameplay with the main series,
On August 25, 2014, Age of Empires: Castle Siege was announced. It is a touch-based game developed by Smoking Gun Interactive. It was released on September 17, 2014, for the Windows PC and Windows Phone 8. with the service terminated on November 30, 2016.
On October 25, 2022, a new mobile entry called Age of Empires Mobile was announced. A free-to-play game developed by TiMi Studio Group, the game was released on Android and iOS on October 17, 2024.
Development
Historical elements
The development phases of the Age of Empires games were similar in several ways. Due to the games being based on historical events, the team often had to do large amounts of research.
Age of Empires allows players to choose to play either along specialized, story-backed conditions or as individual battles against the AI (and other players). Choosing to battle against the AI – rather than following the storyline – allows the AI to adapt to players' strategies and even remember which games it won and lost. The AI eventually overcomes players' strategies and easily destroys their villages after several games. For instance, in Age of Empires III, this is referred to as playing a "Skirmish". However, Age of Empires III allows players to refine their strategies further against the AI by "building a Deck", which allows players to replace "Home City" shipments with improved alternatives.
In Age of Empires II: The Conquerors the AI was given a high priority, the result being the "smart villager" feature, which was included in subsequent games of the series. After building a structure that stores or produces resources, smart villagers would proceed to collect resources related to the structure, such as crops from farms or ore from exposed deposits.