Age of Empires turns 25 next month, and there’s a whole lot of fun planned for the anniversary
Put on your blue pants and get ready to party!
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What you need to know
Age of Empires, one of the best real-time strategy (RTS) series ever released on PC, is turning 25 this year. That’s right … the original Age of Empires launched in 1997, dating most of us in ways we don’t want to admit. To celebrate, the Age team has come up with a bunch of goodies for newcomers and longtime fans of the series alike.
A live Anniversary Broadcast is planned for October 25 at 1 PM EST, in which the development team and community members will share new announcements and answer questions in an interview format. The team isn’t sharing complete details about what we’ll see, but you’ll be able to check it out yourself on major streaming platforms, including Twitch and YouTube (theAge of Empires,Xbox, andRed Bull Gamingchannels will all have the live stream).
October 25 will also see a new Anniversary Edition ofAge of Empires 4hit digital storefronts. It will be considered the “full version” of the game, with base platform, all updates so far released, and the new Anniversary Update launching on the same day.
The Anniversary Update, which includes content seen during the Age 4 Season 3 Public Update Preview, will be free for all Age 4 owners. It includes new Malian and Ottoman civilizations, new challenges and achievements, two new biomes, and eight new maps on which you can wage war. Eleven new languages are also being added in this update, including Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), and Swedish.
The third competitive season will kick off on October 25, giving all players a fresh go at the leaderboard. New Ranked Team Games are included, as are new naval balancing changes and new waypoint markers.
Older Age games aren’t being forgotten, includingAge of Empires 2: Definitive EditionandAge of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. New challenges and rewards will be made available to celebrate the anniversary.
October 25 sits in the middle of the Red Bull Wololo: Legacy tournament, which runs from October 21 to 30. It’s being billed as the “biggest Age of Empires competitive event of all time,” with multiple Age games included in the fun. You can check outRed Bull’s websitefor more information.
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Age of Empires 4 builds greatly on the series' reputation that began in 1997. If you’re a fan of RTS games, world history, or both, this should be an easy recommendation. With dozens of hours of campaign play, eight unique civilizations, hours of live docu-style video segments, and a ton of maps for skirmishes, there’s no shortage of well-polished content to enjoy. Get it on its own or enjoy it through a subscription to PC Game Pass.
Cale Hunt brings to Windows Central more than eight years of experience writing about laptops, PCs, accessories, games, and beyond. If it runs Windows or in some way complements the hardware, there’s a good chance he knows about it, has written about it, or is already busy testing it.
