Hi all,
Could somebody just clarify whether cross-play (between PC and Xbox) is a feature that will be coming to Age of Empires 4?
I’ve heard speculation, but has there been any official confirmation? There’s quite a group of us who all want to play this together (as we can with AOE2) but so far, no luck!
We were part of the crowd drawn to AOE2 when it came to cross-play, so to see this feature lacking in AOE4 is quite disappointing (and the main reason we’re playing 2 not 4).
Just because you want to play together doesn’t mean your suggestion is good idea.
Difference between controller and KBM is way too big and to provide any form of balance between them devs decided to give bot for controller to play in behalf of player.
All in good in this scenario right? No its not.
Existing “balance” attempt between KBM and controller is failure and doesn’t achieve what it was made to do.
For example auto villager queue is completely broken in lower elos and gives massive advantage to controller player even with all the remaining disadvantages, but this is entirely reversed at higher elo where auto villager queue is not meaningful factor and controller has virtually no possibility of playing in even field.
If cross play is introduced then PC players alongside box need option to toggle off mixed matchmaking to create even and balanced playfield for both control setups and ill be emphasizing PC too, because it will crete massive problem in TG’s if PC players are teamed up with controller players.
I take myself as example. If I play 4v4 and I get control player on my team or against, I lose interest of playing the game. Why? There is nothing fun beating down someone who has massive disadvantage or playing in team like that
Hi, couple of things.
The question was about whether it was coming, not its merits.
Good or bad idea, many of us play together through the cross-play service, and have no interest in a game that doesn’t support it. There are four of us with AOE4 installed, and yet the game is unplayed, and it will remain that way until we can play with our friends (I don’t think any of us have any real interest in playing the game solo or against strangers).
I suspect that will be the case for a lot of gamers who were introduced to AOE through the release of AOE2 on Xbox as a cross-play option.
AOE2 has a similar controller vs KBM tradeoff - and it works fine. Not everybody wants to play ranked team games, some of us just want to play against AI with our chums.
These all seem like minor issues that can be addressed through balancing and updates.
You’re “just asking”, you’re making request to get it. Your title. So my comment is completely within the topic of conversation
And Im giving my feedback on this topic why its bad idea, unless they allow both (controller and KBM) to opt out from mixed matchmaking.
This is speculative argument which you have nothing to back it up. Just because you know some players who want crossplay and are fine with all the negatives it introduces it doesn’t represent the community or their voices. Same way I can say that everybody who I play with don’t want cross play and there is many of them.
Those issues are not minor. AOE4 is competitive game when players are introduced uneven and unfair environment to compete they will hate it.
RTS is a niche genre with small playerbase and this its on its main platform which is PC. Now when compared to console its even more niche those resulting minor amount of players actually getting into it. This is fact.
Xbox cannot survive without PC, but PC can survive without them, but for you its basically 99.99% certain that crossplay is brought to AOE4 at somepoint because of this reason.
You made a request that affects all modes. So if you want crossplay in AI games, then you should say that in the request, because when ppl go out of their way to do universal request it will affect everbody just like TG players requested TG ranked and it ruined matchmaking in TG’s. So now everyone who plays QM or Ranked are affected.
Crossplay in AI games or custom games has no effect on anyone else other than those who play in game so its not problem and I got nothing against it, but moment its introduced to multiplayer then there is big issues.
None of them are minor.
As an example. TG ranked was introduced like 2-3 seasons ago and yet devs have not addressed the issue of 2 separate matchmaking pools which made match balance worse in QM and Ranked and same will happen with crossplay unless they decide to take easy way out and offer opt out from cross play for both parties.
I’m not going to bother engaging with the frivolous word soup, because ultimately if a game released in 2021 can’t offer the same functionality as its archaic predecessor, despite the fact that said predecessor is just as competitive and has found ample ways to enable interplay between Xbox and PC users, then it loses out on further custom.
I imagine there are many people, like me, who have no interest in ranked games, no interest in multiplayer player-vs-player, and no interest in solo-gaming, who just wanted to play this game with their friends across a variety of platforms. It’s a request to let us play together - nothing more. Jesus H. Christ.
P.S. It doesn’t need to be full functionality. Hell, non-ranked games versus AI would suffice. Just give us some kind of option.
If you bothered to read my post, you would know that I got nothing against on system which enables crossplay in custom games or AI games or allows both KBM / controller players to opt out from mixed matchmaking in PvP matches.
Matey. If you’d written ‘That’s a good idea but it needs to be implemented carefully’, I’d give you the time of day.
Instead, you immediately started by telling me why my idea is bad and jumped to a million conclusions based on some absolutist interpretation of my request.
You are not a welcoming example of this community.
This is now off topic. If you wish to have conversation of something else you’re free to slide into my DM’s.
I stand with my feedback which was and is based on facts how crossplay acts in online matchmaking environment and is bad idea, but for PvE games its completely fine or if they allow KBM / controller players opt out from mixed matchmaking thats fine too.
Based on FAQ it might come later. Maybe once they allow PC version to use Xbox control as well.
Will cross-play be available with PC?
Cross-play between console and PC platforms is not available at this time.
Thanks ####### thats a helpful answer (no idea why your name is censored!)
I didnt realise controller support for PC was on the way, but finger’s crossed.
Do you know if the devs have ever mentioned anything about cross play?
if they ever mentioned anything it might have been in initial announcement last year
I don’t see it being bad for custom games in the future, no more.
Agree, add he features that AoE2 console edition has and the community will be happy - including this request. I know many, many people on multiple mediums asking for it. No idea what Mr Word Soup is going on about up there 
Absolutely, cross-play is a feature that can help build and sustain a strong gaming community by allowing friends across platforms to play together. While it’s true that keyboard and mouse can offer more precise control, balance can be achieved with carefully designed matchmaking and settings that allow players to opt out of mixed control setup games. Given that Age of Empires is a strategy game and not a twitch shooter, the advantages of KBM over a controller are less significant in low and mid-ELO, making cross-play a feasible and beneficial feature for the AoE4 community.
Why not just force players with KB+M to play together no matter the hardware?
Yes, please add crossplay for Xbox and PC for non ranked marches.
AOE2 have crossplay xbox-pc.
I don’t know, why it can’t be realised for AOE4.
I personally don’t see any problem with crossplay.
There shouldn’t be any issue with that.
When it comes to ranked, console players who use a controller only will generally (in average) naturally be placed a little lower in elo/rank than pc players of a similar skill level, due to disadvanteges of the controller and the UI vs keyboard+mouse.
So, there is no problem when it comes to team ranked.
At the same elo, console players will be a little bit more skilled but handicapped by their devices, so it evens out.
Eventually, everyone will play at the elo that they deserve through winning and losing matches.
The HUGE (!) bonus of the crossplay would obviously be the extended community.
The larger the players pool, the better the experience for players and the easier it is to get matches at even ranks/elo and especially shorten queue-timings.
Ultimately, the game will also live lo#### due to a larger and more stronger community.
I have friends playing on Xbox because they don’t have a good PC and others playing on PC. It would be great if we could bring the 2 groups together to play together. We are looking forward to it.
I created an AOE Forums account just to say how toxic your response was. He’s not asking for some random guys opinion. He’s asking to see if cross play has been confirmed. They did it for AOE2 just fine. They can do it for AOE 4. If you don’t like it, hopefully they make something to turn it off. Just an absolutely unnecessary response.