Age of Empires IV, the upcoming throwback RTS from Microsoft, and Developer Relic Entertainment received a release date today during the Xbox-Bethseda joint 2021 E3 showcase. It will release on PC on Oct. 28, and pre-orders are now open. Also, like all Xbox/Microsoft exclusives, it will also be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Check out the new gameplay trailer below:
If you’re a fan of classic RTS gameplay, everything shown in this new trailer should be quite familiar to you. Workers are gathering materials and constructing buildings, and armies are being trained up to eventually smash into an opposing force. Battles take place at sea, on the coast, outside of castle gates, and in the open field. There was also a glimpse at Jeanne D’Arc of France, who is a playable unit that can be recruited.
Real-Time Strategy games are quite rare these days. Only a handful of developers actively work on new ones and some classic RTS developers, such as Blizzard, appear to be bowing out of the genre while others such as Frost Giant Studio are attempting to breathe some life into it.