On this holiest of occasions marking the sixth installment of our beloved RTS franchise, it is only appropriate to reflect back on the last many years we’ve all been together. Whether AoE4 brings you the joy you seek or whether you continue to seek that joy, there is an awful lot to be excited about:
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A new game: Our beloved franchise is no longer elderly. We are again new and vibrant! Age of Empires has never before gone this long without a sequel. (It has been 10 years, 2 months, and 12 days since Age of Empires Online was released in August of 2011.)
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Future content: Relic is not close to done. Hope is a powerful drug. It has gotten many of us this far, and it will continue to bind us. I cannot wait to see what they all have in store for us.
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Future games: Microsoft was already working on AoE4 when they created World’s Edge. They did not create a studio dedicated to our franchise just to release one game. I am calling it now: see you all again in 3-4 years.
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Permanent, dedicated staff: Shannon Loftis, Adam Isgreen, and the other good people of World’s Edge were not here 10 years ago, and AoE4 is just their opening act. May they remain with us, get comfortable, and feel welcome to build out their careers with us. Corporate turnover is dumb. Stay here! To put this in perspective, since AoEO came out 10 years ago, Adam is now the 5th Creative Director (or similar title) of Age of Empires. Around here, we like to call them Emperors. Hail Emperor Adam!
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Resilent people developing these games: During my time on the Community Council, I have been giving these people some of the most blunt feedback I’ve ever typed. At times I was intentionally not easy to deal with. So were a few others. They dug deep and continued to fight through our storm and improve AoE4 more and more. They have thick skin and endless passion. I respect them so much.
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More players: We gain today not only a new game but a giant influx of new players. Welcome, friends. Please look around, get comfortable, and leave this place better than you found it. We all look forward to reading your textwalls and strong opinions. May AoE4 inspire your strong feelings and attach you more firmly to this community.
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Expanding Communities: The bigger AoE4 gets, the more players will discover all of our other games, many of which are still in active development. Forgotten Empires are the crown jewels of this community. It is amazing to watch them take AoE2 and AoE3 into tremendous directions. Meanwhile the other three games (AoE1, AoM, and AoEO continue to grow and thrive. No matter what game we each love the most, there is room for all of us here.)
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AoE4 Tournaments: I absolutely love, love, love seeing the best of the five games take each other on in AoE4. It’s like the AoE Olympics. And I am personally psyched because my beloved AoEO pros (RecoN, eery, ZertoN, adne, Carnage, theMistaa, Zerton, GuA, SoldieR, Wout, PF2K, etc.) have been cleaning up the AoE2 pros in the games I have seen. My heart soars.
gghf today, everyone! May you find the joy you seek!
Andy