Age of Empires is a series of historicalreal-time strategy video games, originally developed byEnsemble Studios and published byXbox Game Studios. The first game wasAge of Empires, released in 1997. Nine total games within the series have been released so far as of October 28, 2021.
TheAge of Empires series has been a commercial success, selling over 25 million copies. Critics have credited part of the success of the series to its historical theme and fair play; theartificial intelligence (AI) players have fewer advantages than in many of the series' competitors.
Age of Empires, released on October 15, 1997,[3] was the first game in the series, as well as the first major release fromEnsemble Studios.[4] It was one of the first history-based real-time strategy games made,[5] utilizing theGeniegame engine.GameSpot described it as a mix ofCivilization andWarcraft.[6] The game gives players a choice of 12 civilizations to develop from theStone Age to theIron Age. The expansion pack,The Rise of Rome, published byMicrosoft on October 31, 1998, introduced new features and four new civilizations, including theRomans. Although the two games had contained manysoftware bugs,patches resolved many of the problems.[7][8]
Age of Empires was generally well received, despite some highly negative reviews.GameSpot criticized a confused design, whileComputer and Video Games praised the game as strong in single and multiplayer.[9] TheAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences namedAge of Empires the 1998 "Computer Strategy Game of the Year".[10] For several years, the game remained high on the sales charts, with over three million units sold by 2000.[11]The Rise of Rome sold one million units in 2000[11] and attained 80% as anaggregate score fromGameRankings.[12]
In June 2017, Adam Isgreen, creative director ofXbox Game Studios announcedAge of Empires: Definitive Edition at theElectronic Entertainment Expo 2017. It features overhauled graphics with support for4K resolution, a remastered soundtrack, and other gameplay improvements, and was planned to be released on October 19, 2017, but was delayed until February 20, 2018, when it was released on theMicrosoft Store.[13][14][15] On May 30, 2019, Microsoft announced that the Definitive Edition would be coming toSteam, along with the Definitive Editions of bothAge of Empires II andAge of Empires III.[16][17]
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, released on September 30, 1999, used theGenie game engine, and had gameplay similar to its predecessor.[18]Age of Kings is set in theMiddle Ages, from theDark Ages to theImperial Age. It allows players to choose one of 13 civilizations, from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.[19]
On August 24, 2000, Microsoft published the expansion,The Conquerors. It added new units and five new civilizations, including twoMesoamerican civilizations: theMaya and theAztec.[20]The Age of Kings was a bigger critical success than the first two games, with Game Rankings andMetacritic scores of 92%.[21][22] Microsoft shipped out more than two million copies to retailers, and the game received numerous awards and accolades.[23] Critics agreed thatThe Conquerors expanded well onThe Age of Kings, though issues of unbalanced gameplay were raised.[24]The Age of Kings andThe Conquerors won the 2000 and 2001 "Computer Strategy Game of the Year" awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, respectively.[25][26]
In April 2013,Age of Empires II: HD Edition was released on theSteamdigital distribution platform for Windows operating systems. TheHD Edition includes both the original game and the expansionThe Conquerors, as well as updated graphics for high-resolution displays.[27] Originally a fan-made modpack made forThe Conquerors,Age of Empires II: The Forgotten was an unofficial expansion that added a new campaign, playable civilizations, maps, and quality of service updates. The Forgotten was later developed into an official expansion withSkyBox Labs and Forgotten Empires, and in November 2013The Forgotten HD was released by Microsoft exclusively for theHD Edition onSteam.[28] A third expansion namedThe African Kingdoms was released by Microsoft in November 2015, also exclusively for theHD Edition.[29] A fourth expansion entitledRise of the Rajas was released on December 19, 2016.[30] On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announcedAge of Empires II: Definitive Edition.[31]
In June 2019, Adam Isgreen, now the Franchise Creative Director forAge of Empires, shared more information regarding theAge of Empires II: Definitive Edition at theElectronic Entertainment Expo 2019. He confirmed that the Definitive Edition was being developed by Forgotten Empires,Tantalus Media, andWicked Witch Software. He announced that the game would feature new 4K graphics,Xbox Live support for multiplayer, exclusive achievements, four new civilizations (Bulgarians,Cumans,Lithuanians,Tatars[32]), three new campaigns, a new spectator mode and tournament features, and additional quality of life improvements. It was released on November 14, 2019.[33][34] Bert Beeckman, co-founder of Forgotten Empires, confirmed on June 12 thatAge of Empires II: HD Edition would not be removed from sale after the release ofAge of Empires II: Definitive Edition.[35]
Age of Empires III was released on October 18, 2005 and was built on an improved version of theAge of Mythology game engine with the most significant changes being the updated graphics engine and the inclusion of theHavok physicsmiddleware engine.[36][37] The game is set in the period between1421 and 1850, and players can choose one of eight European nations. The game introduced a large number of features, such ashome cities. Described by Ensemble Studios as "an important support system to your efforts in the New World", home cities help provide the player with resources, equipment, troops, and upgrades. They can be used across multiple games, and upgraded after each battle; the feature was compared to arole-playing game character by Ensemble Studios.[38] The first expansion toAge of Empires III,The WarChiefs, was released October 17, 2006. Most gameplay changes in the expansion pack were small, but it introduced three new civilizations, with a focus onNative Americans.[39] Most notable was the introduction of theWarChief unit.[40] The second expansion,The Asian Dynasties, went on sale October 23, 2007. It was a jointly developed product;Big Huge Games helped Ensemble Studios develop the game, withBrian Reynolds joiningBruce Shelley as lead designer.[41] The game expanded theAge of Empires III universe into Asia, and introduced three new civilizations.[42] Reception towardsAge of Empires III was mixed;Game Revolution described it as "about as much fun" as a history textbook, whileGameZone argued it was "one of the best looking games, much less an RTS game, that is out on the market currently".[43] It sold more than two million copies, and won theGameSpy "real-time strategy game of the year" award.[44][45]The WarChiefs failed to equal the success of its predecessor, with a lower score on both Game Rankings and Metacritic, andThe Asian Dynasties' score was lower still with 80%.[46][47][48][49]
Severalcollectors' editions ofAge of Empires III included a hardcoverartbook. The last page of the artbook has a pictorial depiction of the series; theRoman numerals below each panel range from I to V, indicating the series would include anAge of Empires IV andAge of Empires V. Ensemble Studios employeeSandy Petersen said that the image "was total speculation on [their] part".[50]
In 2008, Microsoft announced they were closing down Ensemble Studios following the completion ofHalo Wars. Some of its employees would form a new team as part ofMicrosoft Studios.[51] Kevin Unangst, director ofGames for Windows, denied it was the end of theAge of Empires series, tellingThe San Francisco Chronicle "we're very excited about the future potential forAge of Empires".[52]Edge confirmed, in an interview with Microsoft's corporate vice president of interactive entertainment, Shane Kim, that Microsoft continued to ownAge of Empires and that they had plans to continue the series.[53] However, Bruce Shelley wrote in his blog that he would not be part of any new studios formed.[54][55]
Following the announcement of remastered editions of previous games, Microsoft announcedAge of Empires III: Definitive Edition on August 21, 2017.[31] On May 30, 2019, the company revealed that theDefinitive Edition would come toSteam in the future, along with the Definitive Editions of bothAge of Empires andAge of Empires II.[16][17] On August 28, 2020, Microsoft announced at Gamescom 2020 thatAge of Empires III: Definitive Edition would release officially on October 15, 2020.[56]
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.[57] The first closed beta session began on February 11, 2020, and ended on February 19, 2020.[58][59] The second closed multiplayer session began on March 31 and ran until April 7.[60] The game was released on October 15, 2020.
On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announcedAge of Empires IV, developed byRelic Entertainment.[61] The title was officially released on October 28, 2021,[1] with eight civilizations available at launch: theAbbasid Dynasty, theChinese, theDelhi Sultanate, theEnglish, theFrench, theHoly Roman Empire, theMongols, and theRus.[62] The game is set during theEarly Middle Ages to the earlyRenaissance,[63] with the earliest appearance of any civilization being in the year 750. The game features four Ages, the same as those inAge of Empires II — Dark Age, Feudal Age, Castle Age, and Imperial Age.This title incorporates several features and mechanics ofAge of Empires II that were changed or removed inAge of Empires III.
Like otherAge of Empires games,Age of Empires IV has received several new civilizations in updates. Recent updates have added theOttomans,Malians,Byzantines, andJapanese, along with several variants of civilizations already in the game: theAyyubids,Jeanne d'Arc,Order of the Dragon, andZhu Xi's Legacy, for a total of 16 civilizations at present.
Age of Mythology shared many elements of gameplay with the main series,[64] and was considered a part of the series, despite its different focus.[65][66] The campaign inAge of Mythology tells the story of anAtlantean,Arkantos, and his quest to find why his people are out of favor withPoseidon.[67] Microsoft published the game on October 30, 2002,[68] and its expansion,The Titans, on October 21, 2003.[69]The Titans featured the Atlanteans as a new civilization.[70] Its campaign is shorter than previous expansions, and centers onKastor, son of Arkantos, who falls for the lies of thetitans and frees them fromTartarus.[71]Age of Mythology sold more than one million units in four months.[72] It scored 89% on Game Rankings and Metacritic.[73][74]The Titans failed to equal the sales success ofAge of Mythology, although critics rated it highly.[75][76]
On August 16, 2010, Microsoft announcedAge of Empires Online, which was a free-to-play Games for Windows Live online game, it developed in collaboration withRobot Entertainment. It featured Free-to-play experiences viaGames for Windows LIVE as well as: A persistent online capital city that lives and grows even when you're offline, Cooperative multiplayer quests, trading and a level-based system that lets you progress at your own pace.[81] Premium content could be earned or purchased, such as access to blueprints and special items, as well as more quests and features. In September 2013, it was announced that the game would remain functional until July 1, 2014, after which it would be shut down due to the content being too expensive to maintain.[82]
Thedevelopment phases of theAge 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.[88] However, the research was not in depth, which, according toAge of Empires designerBruce Shelley, is "a good idea for most entertainment products".[88] Shelley also said that Ensemble Studios took most of the reference material from children's sections atlibraries. He pointed out the goal was for the players of the game to have fun, "not [its] designers or researchers".[88] At theGames Convention Developers Conference in 2007, Shelley continued with this thought and explained that the success of the series laid in "making a game which appealed to both the casual and hardcore gamer".[89] Shelley also remarked theAge of Empires games were not about history in itself, but rather "about the human experience;"[89] they focused not simply on what humans had done but on what they could do in the future such as "going into space".[89] Ensemble Studios developedAge of Mythology in a different way than the previous two games. The team had worried they "couldn't get away" with a third historical-based game, and chose mythology as the setting after they had discussed several options.[90]
Theartificial intelligence (AI) used in theAge of Empires series has been developed and improved regularly by designers. AI specialistDave Pottinger noted the development team gave the AI in the original game a very high priority, and spent over a year working on it. He said that the AI in the game relies on tactics and strategies to win, instead of "cheating" by giving bonus resources to itself, or tweaking its units to be stronger than normal.[91] Pottinger later noted that theAge of Empires series team took great pride in their AI playing a "fair game"[92] and didn't know what the player was doing and had to play by the same rules as its human opponents.[93]
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, inAge 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.
InAge 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.[94]
Age of Mythology: The Titans lets players use an AIdebugger when creating custom scenarios; players can change the settings of computer players and make them act according to certain patterns.[95] More basic changes to the AI had previously been available in the series' first two games.[96]
The graphics and visuals ofAge of Empires improved with each successive release. From the original release to the second,Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, noteworthy improvements gained praise from several critics.[97][98][99] With the release ofAge of Mythology the praise continued,[97][100][101][102] and the fourth release,Age of Empires III, garnered even more.[103][104][105]
GameSpot praised the improved graphics[97] in the second release,Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.Eurogamer welcomed its introduction of female villagers[106] as compared with the original male only version.Allgame praised the advanced grouping and path-finding systems in the second release.[98] Despite the improved graphics, Allgame complained that units inAge of Empires II: The Age of Kings were at times difficult to distinguish from one another,[98] a point numerous reviewers agreed on.[97][107] Nevertheless, Game Revolution wrote that the second release was "the best looking of the 2D RTS games out there right now".[99]
The graphics continued to improve inAge of Mythology and was praised by a majority of reviewers.IGN ranked the graphics in this third release "a joy to watch ... awesome".[100]GameSpot agreed, also rating the graphics nine out of ten.[97]Game Revolution also agreed,[101] andPC Gamer stated that the graphics in the third release "are packed with detail".[102]
The trend in improved graphics continued well into the next release,Age of Empires III, much to the delight of reviewers.IGN stated: "After seeing the screenshots, our jaws hit the floor at the amount of detail."[103]1UP.com describedAge of Empires III as "one of the most beautiful games you will put on your computer for the foreseeable future".[104]GameSpy agreed, stating: "Age III's graphics are unmatched in the strategy genre."[105]Age of Empires III builds on and introduces new features to the prior release,Age of Mythology, such as the inclusion of the award-winning[108] Havok physics simulation middleware[109] game engine for the Windows version and PhysX for the Mac OS X. The innovative result is that pre-created animations are avoided; instead events are calculated according to the physics engine. Consequently, views of events like building destruction and tree felling are not pre-recorded.GameSpot also admired the graphics in the fourth release but complained about "the awkward unit behavior".[110] Other graphical features of the game include bloom lighting and support forpixel shader 3.0.[111]
GameSpy awardedAge of Empires III the "Best Graphics" award atGameSpy's "Game of the Year 2005".[112]
Stephen Rippy has been the series' music director since the first game. He has had occasional help from his brother, David Rippy, as well as Kevin McMullan.[113] He created the original music inAge of Empires with sounds of instruments from the periods in the game.[114] These sounds came from actual instruments, and theirdigital samples.[114] The tunes were the result of extensive research on the cultures, styles, and instruments used.[114] Rippy said that sound development onThe Age of Kings was easy, since there was knowledge of the instruments used in the Middle Ages. Therefore, they were able to reproduce the tunes for the soundtrack of the game.[115] InAge of Mythology, an orchestral instrumentation was used, instead. According to McMullan, the team also collected large numbers of audio recordings fromzoos, and created "a massive sound library of [their] own material".[116] The music ofAge of Empires III was similar toThe Age of Kings, in which the team used more historical instruments; Rippy noted the team used instruments such as "bagpipes and field drums" to give it a realistic feel.[113]
Ensemble Studios worked together withBig Huge Games to developThe Asian Dynasties,Age of Empires III's second expansion. This was the first joint venture for both teams. The reason for them doing so was compatible schedules: Ensemble Studios was busy with other projects—particularlyHalo Wars—while Big Huge Games' real-time strategy team had few projects at that time. Big Huge Games did most of the work, but Ensemble Studios designers Greg Street andSandy Petersen joined in thebrainstorming, and had control over the final product.[117] Both studios had roles in testing the game before its release.[118]
TheAge of Empires series has been a commercial success. As of 2008, five of its games have each sold more than one million copies. According toGamasutra,Age of Empires had sold more than three million copies, andThe Rise of Rome sold one million copies as of 2000.[11] Around the same time, Microsoft announced that they shipped over two million copies ofThe Age of Kings.[23] In 2003, Microsoft announced the sales of one million copies forAge of Mythology.[72] By 2004, prior to the release ofAge of Empires III, theAge of Empires franchise had sold over 15 million copies.[135] On May 18, 2007, Ensemble Studios announced that two million copies ofAge of Empires III had been sold.[44]Games in the series have consistently scored highly on video gamereview aggregator websitesGameRankings andMetacritic, which collect data from numerous review websites. As noted in the adjacent table, the highest rating game isAge of Empires II: The Age of Kings, receiving a 92% score from both sites.[21][22]
Critics have creditedAge of Empires for influencing real-time strategy (RTS) games such asRise of Nations,Empire Earth, andCossacks.[136][137]Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was also influenced by the series: it utilized theGeniegame engine, asAge of Empires andAge of Empires II: The Age of Kings had, and was considered by critics to be a very close replica to the games;IGN began their review with the statement "I loveAge of Star Wars, I meanStar Empires. Whatever it's called, I dig it."[138] andGameSpot wrote that "fundamentals of theAge of Empires II engine are so intact inStar Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds that veterans of that game can jump right in".[139] In October 2005, Shelley commented on the impact of the series. In aGameSpy interview, he explained that parents would "tellEnsemble Studios that their kid is reading books about ancient Greece because they enjoy playing with thetriremes so much, or that they want to check out books about medieval history because [the] game taught them what atrebuchet was".[140]
Shelley has said that the key to the success of the games was its innovation, rather than imitation of its peers. He also claimed the unique elements in the games "helped establish the reputation of Ensemble Studios as masters of the real-time strategy genre".[141] Mark Bozon ofIGN wrote in his review ofThe Age of Kings, "TheAge of Empires series has been one of the most innovative real-time strategy games for PC in the last decade or so."[142] Gamenikki called Ensemble Studios "the developer that started it all" when they talked about how muchAge of Empires III had done to advance the real-time strategy genre.[143] Shelley has acknowledged the success and innovation ofAge of Empires helped to ensure Ensemble survive its early periods since startup.[144] In 2005, Shelley complained of critics holding an "innovation bias" against the series; citing the 60% score fromComputer Gaming World, he said that despiteAge of Empires III being "perhaps the best selling PC game in the world" at the time, reviewers expected "something really new" and rated it harshly.[145]
Bungie chose Ensemble Studios to developHalo Wars, an RTS game based on theirHalo series. They said that one of the reasons they chose to work with Ensemble was because of theAge of Empires series.[146] They also noted that Ensemble was the perfect choice "to realize the original vision ofHalo", which started life as an RTS.[146]
In 2024, theRed Bull Wololo: El Reinado Age of Empires II tournament achieved the second-highest viewership in the game's history, with a peak of 85,800 concurrent viewers. The event, held at theCastle of Almodóvar,Spain, featured eight top players, including TheViper and Hera, who won the final 5-1. This marked a 12% increase in peak viewership compared to the previous series, reflecting the growing popularity ofAge of Empires II in theesports scene.[147]