Introduction:
First off, I want to say that I love Age of Empires IV, and I truly appreciate the work the devs have put into it. However, while the majority of the community plays on mouse and keyboard, there’s a huge group of us who enjoy playing from the couch (or wherever) with a controller. This post isn’t meant as criticism but as constructive feedback to highlight some frustrating Xbox-specific issues that have persisted since launch. Even if you’re a mouse-and-keyboard player, I think you’ll agree that some of these issues are unnecessary hurdles that should be addressed.
1. Xbox Friend Invite Issue
Like many of you, I mostly enjoy team games with friends. On Xbox, inviting friends to a team game requires an inconvenient workaround. The game doesn’t allow you to invite friends from the Xbox party interface or friends list while in the menus. Instead, you must first queue for a match, wait 3–5 seconds, cancel, and then the invite option appears.
This issue has existed since launch and was also a problem in Age of Empires II on Xbox. It seems like the game doesn’t consider you to be in a true “lobby” until after queuing. I’ve always been surprised to see this somehow carry over from AoE2. It’s a small but frustrating barrier that should be a simple fix.
2. Controller Movement and Selection Issue
On a controller, the A button both selects units (like a left-click on a mouse) and issues the move command. This means that when units are selected, trying to move them near buildings or farms instead selects the structure under the cursor.
This isn’t an issue for buildings and rally points because the settings menu includes two options under Control Scheme Alternatives that allow players to change how friendly buildings and units are selected when issuing commands. Many players (who are aware of these settings) change them to Set Rally Point instead of Select Building/Unit to avoid unwanted selections.
However, there is no option for “Friendly Unit Selected / Friendly Building Targeted.” This is a major problem when retreating or repositioning units inside your base because you must find an empty space to click. If your cursor is over a building or farm, you unintentionally select it instead of issuing a move command. This makes kiting and defensive maneuvers unnecessarily difficult.
Solution: The default behavior should allow units to move freely even when clicking over buildings, and if a player actually wants to select a building, they can simply deselect their units with B first. At the very least, please add an option in the settings—since similar options already exist for buildings and rally points.
3. Select All Military Units Without Villagers
Holding the Y button selects all military units on-screen, but it also selects villagers. This is problematic when responding to an attack, as villagers are often caught in the selection when you’re trying to quickly mobilize your army.
The only other option is to select all (global) military units on the map using the D-pad, which disrupts units stationed elsewhere or raiding the enemy.
Solution: A simple fix would be adding an option to hold Y to select only military units in the local area, excluding villagers. Or better yet, just change it outright—since it’s extremely rare that anyone would want to select both military and villagers at the same time.
(For context: Yes, we have control groups on controllers, but they are slow and clunky—not the devs’ fault, just a controller limitation.)
4. Auto-Economy and Villager Safety
When using Automatic Economy, the system dynamically redistributes workers based on set ratios. However, if you order villagers to retreat (e.g., to a Town Center during an attack), the system treats their original jobs as vacant and reallocates new villagers to fill the gap—sending them straight into harm’s way.
A simple solution would be for the system to consider garrisoned villagers as still assigned to their previous tasks until they safely return, preventing unnecessary losses.
Currently, this system often results in losing 10 workers instead of just one because they are seemingly determined to die in a never-ending feeding frenzy for your opponent. Lol.
I personally only use Auto-Economy in the late game when I’m more focused on ending the match, but this issue really punishes newer players who rely on the system for macro management. Poor Silvers…
Conclusion:
I hope this post helps bring attention to these Xbox-specific issues. None of these problems are game-breaking, but they do make controller play more frustrating than it should be.
If you agree or have experienced similar issues, please like or upvote this post so the developers can see the demand for these fixes. Xbox players love Age too!
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate all the work the devs have put into this amazing game!