Vision: The next Age of Empires title will evolve the traditional historical setting by focusing on the monumental conflicts of the 20th century, starting with the Industrial Age and spanning across the World Wars and into the Cold War. The game will offer players a deep, strategic experience across eras that feature both the rise of modern warfare and the balance of power between global superpowers.
This new entry in the Age of Empires series will introduce four key eras, each defined by dramatic shifts in technology and strategy:
Industrial Age (Pre-WWI): The world is on the brink of modern warfare. Players will manage nations as they industrialize, expanding their economies and militaries while balancing diplomacy and national resources.
World War I Age: Trench warfare, early tanks, and the first widespread use of air combat redefine warfare. Nations will experience slower-paced but devastating battles, where positioning and resource management are key.
Interwar Age: An age of rapid technological development, allowing players to prepare for the looming global conflict of WWII. This era will also introduce early forms of mechanized infantry, more efficient tanks, and improved air power.
World War II Age: Nations will fully engage in total war. The introduction of strategic bombing, blitzkrieg, and the wide use of infantry, tanks, aircraft, and naval forces will create the most dynamic military challenges the series has seen.
Cold War Age: The rise of nuclear technology, espionage, and the balance of power. Players must navigate a world on the edge of destruction, engaging in proxy wars, space races, and diplomacy while managing the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD).
Civilizations: Each civilization will represent the major powers of the 20th century, including:
United States: Dominant in industrial output, powerful naval and air forces, and technological advancements in the Cold War era.
Germany: A military powerhouse with superior tanks, innovative combined arms tactics, and advanced technology in WWII and beyond.
Soviet Union: Commanding mass-produced armies, heavy tanks, and specialized units like spies and nuclear weapons, making them a formidable Cold War opponent.
United Kingdom: Naval supremacy and elite special forces, with strong research and development focused on maintaining colonial holdings and air dominance.
What Sets This Game Apart:
Technological Progression: From the industrial boom to the dawn of nuclear power, players will experience unparalleled technological growth. Each age offers new units, buildings, and gameplay mechanics, including strategic air power, espionage, and nuclear warfare.
Modern Warfare Focus: The game brings the Age of Empires franchise into the 20th century, where mechanized infantry, tanks, aircraft, and submarines redefine strategy. Players will engage in epic land, sea, and air battles while managing global diplomacy and economics in ways never before seen in the series.
Cold War Tension: The final age will introduce a new strategic element: diplomatic balance. Nations will have to juggle military power, alliances, and the looming threat of nuclear war. Managing the delicate line between conflict and diplomacy adds a unique layer to the traditional Age of Empires gameplay.
Historical Relevance: The 20th century is one of human history’s most pivotal and transformative periods, marked by unprecedented warfare, technological breakthroughs, and the shifting of global power structures.
World War I and World War II were massive global conflicts that shaped modern warfare, featuring the first true instances of trench warfare, tanks, aeroplanes, and submarines. These wars introduced rapid changes in military strategy that would provide a fresh experience in an RTS setting.
The Cold War offers a different kind of conflict: a battle for influence, resources, and technological superiority that never quite reaches open warfare but threatens global destruction. The Age introduces the concept of proxy wars, espionage, and the nuclear arms race, giving players a high-stakes balancing act that brings something new to the Age of Empires franchise.
By focusing on the world-shaping events of the 20th century, this game will bridge the gap between the historical strategy fans love and the modern mechanics of warfare, diplomacy, and technology.
I completely agree! Your breakdown of the ages fits perfectly with the historical developments in each era. The 45-year age span makes sense to capture the rapid technological advancements, especially when you consider how drastically warfare and society changed between the Industrial Age and the Information Age.
For the Industrial Age/Belle Epoque, it would be interesting to see early factories, steam-powered units, and the transition from cavalry to mechanized forces. In the Machine Age, the emphasis could be on trench warfare, early tanks, and the rise of air power during the World Wars. The Cold War/Atomic Age would bring a balance of conventional forces and nuclear threats, while espionage could play a key role. Finally, the Information Age would add modern warfare elements like drones, cyber warfare, and even advanced space tech!
I think your timeline could enhance the Age of Empires formula with its modern and industrial elements. It would be amazing to see how different civilizations adapt to each era’s unique challenges and opportunities.
Yes, it would be like a CoH or EE2 but larger with industrialized cities with workers and factories and on the outskirts fortified military camps with barracks, and tank and artillery factories…
Exactly! That blend of industrialized cities and fortified military camps would add so much depth to the game. I can picture cities growing with factories, railroads, and workers while the outskirts become strategic points for military production and defense. Having to manage both the economic and military sides would create some really interesting dynamics, especially if resources are more scarce in wartime, forcing players to balance production and combat.
I love the idea of tank and artillery factories along with barracks outside the cities. It would make for some intense gameplay as you’d need to protect your production lines while also planning large-scale offensives. The comparison to CoH and EE2 is spot-on, but the larger scale you’re suggesting would make it feel truly epic—especially when you factor in modern units like planes, missiles, and nuclear deterrence later on!
Yes, that’s why I say it… there is potential… they just have to rack their brains a bit…
It’s going to be a feast…although there will most likely be posts of “buff/nerf x tank” and “divide Germany into West Germany and East Germany” xd…
Remembering that there is a whole history from the beginning of the 19th century to the 20th, where the game could be approached. Starting in the eras of revolutions, until the cold war.
So we lump prewar vehicles in with guided missiles? I don’t understand why these ages need to be so large, simply put there where more developments in technology between 1930 and 1950 than between 1500 and 1700.
Why not either:
go with a shorter time frame
or
go with more ages.
1830 to 2030 is simply a night and day difference, less things changed between the fall of rome and 1600 than in those 200 years.
Mainly because of the WW2 tanks and later…in EE2 the Atomic Age is from 1940 to 1980…
Atomic Age (1940-1980)
The ability to manipulate the world on an atomic scale, even if only destructively, is an indication of the direction technological progress will take in this age. Miniaturization allows more technologically advanced goods and services to reach an ever-increasing number of citizens. However, the specter of nuclear war looms in this age of unprecedented progress.
Well, we can do it from 1914 (Start of WW1) to 1991 (End of Cold War)…
WW1:1910-1930 (Biplanes and early WW1 MGs and tanks)
WW2:1930-1950 (Rotor planes and WW2 MGs and tanks)
Atomic Age:1950-1970 (Jet planes and Korean/Six Days Wars MGs and tanks)
Information Age:1970-1990 (Supersonic planes and Vietnam War MGs and tanks)
The idea is that it will be in 4-5 ages as it has always been in the saga…
Yes, I know… the technological advances we have had in the last 200 years make it very difficult to separate them into technological ages…
yeah get what your’re saying
shfit in tech over last couple of centuries really does make it hard to break everything down into just few ages
1830-2030 is a big leap compared to slow buildup of earlier periods
defo a challenge esp with all advancement in milary tech like tanks, jets and nukes
squeezing it inot 4 or 5 ages might be tricky esp as lots has changed over just a few decades
its why I’m thinking shorter timeframe like 1914-1991 would be best
focus on technological and military advacenemetns like WW1, WW2 and cold war
but i do agreee age of empires might struggle in this setting too fast-paced and focused on big , sweeping changes
more tactical games like company of heroes or C&C fit shte theme better esp with micro-managing and specific unit tactics
Yes, I know, but EE1 and RoN are games that are more than 20 years old… and the CoH and CnC focus on a certain period (only RA1 would be WW2 but only with Allies against Soviets, RA2 and 3 would be Cold War but more advanced, Tiberian Dawn would be in 1997 and Generals yes, it would be modern, but it goes up to 2013) (the following main CnC would be in the future from 2030 to 2077)… an AoE in the 20th century would be all that but in a single game and it would also touch on WWI…
Yes, that’s why I’m between 1830-2030 at the latest or 1914-1991 as a base point… If AoE 3 went up to 1920 (with revolutions like the Mexican or Russian revolutions), which would be 500 years (1420-1920), then in AoE 5 you could start in the Belle Epoque in 1870 and from then on until 2030-2035 (depending on when the game came out), which at that time would be the present or the present day with the colonization of the Moon and Mars and the end of fossil fuels… from then on AoE 6 would be cyberpunk and solarpunk with the arrival of AI, nanotechnology and green technologies (2030/2035-2200)…
