Where’s the proof?
Because it wasn’t designed to be one, SC2 was specifically designed to be an E-Sport, lol.
AoE2 playerbase between DE and 2013 (not counting MS store version of DE or voobly for 2013) is 30k. What is SC2’s playerbase right now?
1 Like
Based on 1v1 population: https://www.rankedftw.com/stats/leagues/1v1/#v=2&r=1&sx=a
Worldwide it’s 193,873 not counting those who would rather play co-op (the most popular mode), custom games, team games and campaign.
*Funny thing to note, so China’s 1v1 SC2 player population (52,167) is larger than the entire AoE2 player population (30k)? Lol.
I was talking about the first game titled Starcraft Broodwar since you mentioned “starcraft”, but still, Starcraft 2 is a bigger esport than AoEII ever did.
3 Likes
Yes, if AOE4 fails, the AOE2 will also be greatly affected. They will consider that the RTS project is no longer worth investing in.
2 Likes
AOE 2 will never die. Don’t matter how many ages follows.
3 Likes
That doesn’t really make sense.
Microsoft is not investing a lot into AoE II, compared to their flagship titles. But they are doing that, without IV.
So if IV ‘fails’ they will stop… because?
Now we also have no IV and II is doing ok. If anything II won’t be hurt because of potential players that might switch to IV, will stay where they are.
It’s funny that u know sc2 stats but dont know how to check aoe2.
Open aoe2.net on the bottom u will see the counts for last 30 days.
1-1: 44,263 TG: 70,341 entries (ppl prefer TG). Unranked: 205,958 entries. And it’s without solo games and campaigns.
PS not arguing sc2 scene is bigger. it should be bigger. It were pached for 10 years. It has newer engine and 3D. And finally It is not old 20 years game.
To show some “TV ads” from 2011 a a proof. is a little bit “off”. Show ads from 2021 please.
3 Likes
Omg, it still has more players than I thought. That statistic with how much time of player activity is measured?
Because I’m a former SC2 player that is currently transitioning to AoE.
clicks link and scrolls down All I got was this:
All I can see are leader boards and currently posted matches. So are you referring to the number of matches made and not player population? Doesn’t seem to be relevant to this discussion.
The videos I posted were for Starcraft because it’s the one Gustank mentioned. I don’t have the time to search and post ones for SC2 because you have yet to convince me about the population of AoEIIDE.
The stats are measured by players who are playing ranked games (so I’m not counted since I only play unranked and co-op) so it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
only for and only once. ofcourse u have to select right menu.
direct link to TGs
++ mb i should provide it at the start. Sorry. if i should give direct link. i assumed everyone know about aoe2 and how to check profiles.
Is random map equivalent to 1v1 matches? If so, then 70,351 sure is nice but is short of 123,522 players compared to SC2.
AOE4 was announced early, and AOE1 was remade later. It’s fair to say that many people have been waiting for nearly 5 years.
If AOE4 fails, will AOE2 still have enough money for matches and updates ? I worry that AOE2 will be buried because of the lack of progress. 
He who does not advance loses ground.
But what money? AoE II:DE is released. They’ve been supporting it for some time. They already released two expansions for this game. Not sure what you have in mind. Maintaining this game (few people that fix potential bugs and keep an eye out on mp scene) is nothing compared to keeping huge online games running.
AoE IV is a different project with a separate budget. Microsoft clearly thinks AoE II:DE is worth not pulling out now. It’s not like people making AoE IV are stealing from 2DE team.
There is nothing to bury- they’ve already made good on this game. Even when, by large, left alone it will live for many more years.
AoE II:DE is a re-re-release of a 21yo game. It was going on without HD2013, it will go on even if they don’t release any new expansions. There’s already more than enough content for people playing single player modes, and much more for MP scene with new civilizations, maps and huge number of small tweaks.
I really wouldn’t worry about AoE II:DE in context of IV.
First of all - it will take some months to judge whether IV is received well, is liked by people focused on campaigns and pvp scene.
It’s very unlikely it will be a disaster. It’s impossible to expect it will explode and double avg player numbers vs. 2DE. It takes time to build playerbase - Age of Kings had 21-22 years.
Microsoft is not Square-Enix. Just because AoE IV might not sell 2,8M units in 3 weeks they won’t fire all developers.
Second- who knows what content will be available at launch. Mayber map editor will be released in 4 months? Maybe there will be free campaign in 6 that was cut due to lack of time?
Nobody can tell.
Thankfully it’s not a battle royale that can die in a month.
3 Likes
doubt, Rise of Nations is still up.
1 Like
I think you’re right, RTS is still too hardcore and only has a small core audience, which means it’s stable. 
If they call it Age of Medieval, then they’re stuck in that period for any sequels.
It’s bigger than it ever was, considering how strategy genre expanded and evolved. Just on Steam there’s million interesting strategy games of various kinds.
Classic RTS games like AoE from big publishers are borderline absent and have been for years. Most of that audience moved to indie scene, and in a way it’s snowball effect - the gaming market is growing but that’s mostly clueless people like small children and casual gamers on mobile devices etc. Without money and big names behind it- sadly no wonder why people aren’t jumping on things like AoE these days.
In a way classic RTS games are like arena shooters, or oldsql MMOs. In a way they are thing of the past, sadly. Just like arena shooters evolved into many types of sp/mp/online/live service FPS games, the same way looking at things like Warcraft, CnC or AoE and current market… you have huge number of 4X games of all kinds, and double that of various survival builders subgenres.
Even AoE has been static - after III we had AoE:Online, that was cool but it didn’t work out for people running MS back in the day. All DEs are re-releases of that classic trilogy. Just now we got few coop maps for AoE II:DE, one (ONE) challenge map for III:DE… Too little too late.
Competitive PvP is something only small portion of the playerbase is interested in in the long run. I’ve been playing AoE II for 22 years and AoE III for 16. How many times a person can complete the same campaign, play the same skirmish matches or tinker with map editor? Even with mods that’s too little to grasp people’s attention.
I’m not saying classic games like that are bad. I’m saying competition is offering a lot more and kinds these days don’t have a mindset of sticking to one game and doing the same thing over and over again for no reason.
Static, classic formula can and still works, but just recently AoE III:DE received new expansion and USA civ and besides that- we had new stuff for AoE II:HD… very old game.
Publishers don’t take chances, and they should. And when they do it somehow is not working for them (Dawn of War III).
General design must change, without it RTS games might never come back as important PC genre like it was 20 years ago.
So long as there are people with potato PCs, AOE 2 will live on.
Why are you telling us? We are not responsible for if it fails or not, Relic is, I hope you put this in the beta feedback.
Why should we care for moneyed tournaments? Let the top players who play for financial gain move onto the next hot new game.
Tournaments do not determine AOE 2 or AOE 4 success. Having a dedicated player base who still play the game for fun determines it’s longevity.
2 Likes
Honestly, with which logic would this be true? You don’t suddenly stop supporting a popular game if it’s successor doesn’t perform that well. Especially considering they earn money fine from DLCs.