Age of Empires IV is Now Available on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft made a surprise addition to the Xbox Game Pass library yesterday with Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition. The RTS game was originally released on PC back in 2021, and it’s now been ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Just like the Xbox version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition released earlier this year, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition has been optimized for Xbox Wireless Controllers, but the game also supports mouse and keyboard input. The multiplayer modes support up to 8 players on Xbox Series X|S and up to 4 players on Xbox One.

Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition includes 10 different civilizations and four campaigns with 35 missions covering 500 years of human history. Xbox players will be welcomed with an exclusive tutorial that will help them learn the game’s basic controls.

It’s pretty rare to see RTS games on consoles these days, so Microsoft deserves credit for porting the latest installment in the Age of Empires franchise on Xbox. Strategy games probably aren’t as popular as they used to be, but Microsoft may soon own other popular RTS franchises such as Starcraft and Warcraft if it manages to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

World’s Edge, the new studio overseeing the development of the Age of Empires franchise revealed last fall that Age of Mythology (a personal favorite) was also getting the remaster treatment. It’s not clear yet if the remastered game will also be released on Xbox consoles, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.