AOE4 discounted some months after its launch, not one year later and It has been discounted ever, except some months.
Developers also relased Turkish and Malyans civilizations for free.
Elden Ring, which was also ultra-popular, was discounted two months after its release, at 40% off.
Like i said, is a Steam Politic. And Steam discounts are regular; that’s how they work.
On the other hand, I’ll say it again, I was waiting for the game, AoE4, to be discounted to buy it since its release. Before that, I didn´t see any discount, and more than half a year passed between then and its release.
About the graph, consider that the one I posted is for the Anniversary version, which came out 10 months after the original game. Many sites deleted all their data for the base game (AoE-IV) without the “Anniversary” tag, so the original discount date for the game since his launch in 2021 was lost, there is only info since the anniversary version.
At least ChatGPT says the game only went on Discount in August 2022 (right on the Anniversary), and the game came out in November 2021. That’s over 10 months.
At that time (2022) Microsoft was very kind. AoE3 also had constant “Free” updates, changing the portraits of various units and adding new technologies and cards.
I’d like to assume it was the Covid effect; since the game came out late and was buggy, they added two extra FREE civs to boost sales.
Reason why: “No idea.”
I theorize that it’s also another effect of the quarantine period: “They truly believed that people would massively increase their video game consumption at 2023-2025, and therefore thought the ideal was to attract more players as best as possible, so they’d continue buying more DLC.”
Few people really knew that the player base didn’t actually increase further in 2023:
- Instead, there was a “reduction,” with people preferring to read books or go to the movies and buy music rather than play video games. In the end, this rebounded, and all video game companies had to make cuts. I always like to quote this documentary a lot.
So, let’s summarize: Sega causes unfair layoffs in 2024, Microsoft intervenes, Relic changes producer to Enola Capital, for rearrangements the DLC that was supposed to be released in 2024 is delayed, and that’s why we have it in 2025.
Anyway, I’m getting tired, have a nice day.
Well, that council is exclusively for AoE 4 only. Not sure if every game has a council but at least AoM has one as well.
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not responding the allegation of your first hand experience on the council
Seeing how DoW IV look back at Casuals with 4 Campaigns
And AoE IV just keeps focusing on Esports
It speaks it all!
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Except Company of Heroes 3 sucked and SEGA ditched Relic, not “caused unfair layoffs”.
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Individual game performance is generally not a cause of layoffs for companies SEGA’s size. SEGA’s layoffs also hit multiple studios (and other departments).
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in my opinion given the quality of the product they were putting out, relic would’ve imploded with or without sega or microsoft mendling, relic’s management i still think needs an urgent reality check, ig DOW DE is working atm but it could still be a one off, we need a pattern of consistent quality for trust to return
If you think CoH 3’s launch state was independent of SEGA I have a bridge to sell you 
I remember a similar kerfluffle around TW DLC pricing. It’s probably a coincidence SEGA owns both studios.
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I wonder why MS didn’t try to buy Relic this year. I mean, It’s possible that the Relic wanna be indipendent. But consider the long partnership It could have been a natural marriage.
Tbh I don’t want them to have every major RTS IP under their banner as beside AoE, they also now own Starcraft and Warcraft.
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Between their acquisitions over the last few years and their indie games program, it’s easier to list who isn’t in the Microsoft family.
They have them, but they don’t do anything with them.
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I have good news (or bad depending on your preferences), there’s reporting on there having been a bidding war on the starcraft IP. Nexon supposedly won it and is working on the next starcraft title:
As for StarCraft, there are no details on Nexon’s intentions, but the fact that something might actually get made again in the StarCraft series has to be a good thing: the big question is whether it’ll be an RTS, or even reflect those roots in a meaningful way.
Still waiting to hear if it will be a mobile title or something else. Knowing how impactful that series is to South Korean gaming I would think it would be sacrilegious to make something other than RTS.
So it’s not like they let the games die… Microsoft just lets its acquired companies die, or reshuffles their portfolio, selling them for parts.
It’s not exactly something I want for Age of Empires.
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Hopefully it’ll mean we’ll see another Starcraft in our lifetime.
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If you want to (imo understandably) bag on Microsoft and be suspicious of their motives r.e. handling AoE as a franchise . . . I wouldn’t get your hopes up about Nexon.
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Starcraft Mobile incoming
Nice to see you more conscious and critical about the decisions and handling of the series
Well done!
It’s very possible. We’re experiencing the next stage of video games, a world where games that many of us started playing over a decade ago go into long-term maintenance. A new kind of retro.
It worries me that I may be losing touch with what most people enjoy, I can’t imagine enjoying mobile games as much as ‘traditional’ mouse + keyboard RTSes. I don’t think I could accept a mobile Starcraft, just like I couldn’t accept a mobile Age of Empires.
Maybe we’re all just getting old!
sc story is already wrap up so they either reboot or have to do smth new which we can see on ´previous games and projects they sux on it so i have no hope on it