As a former Age of Empires 3 player with over 2,000 ladder games and nearly 3,000 hours of gameplay, I can confidently say this ending was predictable. While Age 3 is the best game in the series, its stubborn community and stagnant meta have been its downfall.
The player base, largely made up of long-time veterans, has heavily influenced the development team and meta, leading to a stagnant meta that favors the same civilizations year after year. It’s no coincidence those same civilizations are often the preferred civs of the legacy/ longtime players. Despite repeated calls from newer players and parts of the community (myself included) for fundamental changes, any new or innovative strategies and civs were quickly nerfed, leaving the meta unchanged.
This has made the game hostile to newcomers, who are often discouraged by the dominance of experienced players using overpowered civs and repetitive techniques. Many quit after being repeatedly beaten by the same strategies. For players like me, facing the same civ using the same op “cheese” strat for the 1,500th time took all the fun out of it. The game also became too reliant on unbalanced builds, making matches frustrating rather than enjoyable.
Farewell to the best game in the Age series—you deserved better.