Age of Empires 2 and 4 are coming to Xbox
The classic RTS series is bound for Xbox consoles soon.
If you love real-time strategy but aren’t keen on PC gaming, worry not — multiple Age of Empires titles are heading to Xbox.
As part of the franchise’s 25th anniversary celebration on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will release for Xbox consoles on Jan. 31, 2023. The company didn’t specify if that includes Xbox One, but Xbox Series X|S is a given.
That’s not all, either. The much more recent Age of Empires IV is also coming to Xbox. No specific date for that one yet – but it’ll arrive sometime in the latter half of 2023.
There’s also a cute trailer for this announcement chronicling the (many) port requests from fans. Check it out below.
Naturally, both titles are launching on Xbox Game Pass. Not that there was much doubt since every first-party game from Xbox makes it on the service.
Microsoft still needs to clarify how a mouse and keyboard-heavy experience like Age of Empires will work on a traditional controller, but other studios have made it work. Halo Wars, for instance, figured this out more than a decade ago.
Rumors have been swirling around regarding these ports since the beginning of 2022, so this has been a long time coming.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.