Rumor: Microsoft Curious If Fans Will Play A 4X Massive Multiplayer Age Of Empires

Microsoft seems to be gauging interest in a new kind of Age of Empires game.

IdleSloth shared this information on Twitter, which he then got from Reddit:

“(FYI) According to a Survey Microsoft is gauging interest in a 4X massively multiplayer (Free To Play) Age of Empires game

This survey was found on an Instagram ad from “Mobile game research”

Just to set the record straight, Microsoft was always the publisher of the Age of Empiresfranchise, all the way back in 1997. The original life cycle for the franchise ran until 2005, exclusively on Windows and made by Ensemble Studios. Ensemble Studios themselves would shut down in 2009, following an announcement that they would do so a year before, and after they would finish work on Halo Wars.

Microsoft briefly tried to use Age of Empires to lure gamers into Windows Live, to some success. If you are playing any Age of Empires game now, it’s likely because Microsoft started publishing the games to Steam from 2017.

Even more recently, Microsoft decided to adapt the franchise over to consoles, seeing the newfound success of real time strategy games on the platforms. That includes games like Crusader Kings 3, and, oh yes, Pikmin 4.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition released to the Xbox Series X|S earlier this year. It had proven to age like fine wine, garnering a respectable 86 on Metacritic.

Now, console gamers do also have a new Age of Empires game to look forward to, with a port of Age of Empires IV also coming to Xbox Series X|S at some point in 2023. But based on this survey, Microsoft seems to want to do new things with the franchise.

It may get confusing for gamers who aren’t really into strategy games, but Age of Empires isn’t actually a 4X game itself. 4X, for the uninitiated, stands for “explore, expand, exploit, exterminate.” Now, the Age of Empires do have some of these elements, but they don’t have them at the same level of complexity. Games like Sid Meier’s Civilization, Stellaris, and Age of Wonders. Creative Assembly’s Total War series has a similar issue where strategy fans, may love the games, but don’t consider them real 4X, for not having the expected level of granularity, and subsequently, gives less control to the gamers.

So Microsoft might be looking to make a more complex take on Age of Empires, but also one that’s designed for competitive online play, and possibly with monetization in mind too.

As always with game shifts like this, the older fans might not like it, but this new game might end up gaining an even bigger fanbase as a result. We’ll see in the future if Microsoft asking around will lead to anything.