I have to say this about objectivity: it is achievable to some extent. Everyone’s words and expressions carry their own biases, and this is something we need to be aware of. For example, my current bias is that I dislike World’s Edge. Based on my personal observations and experiences, I believe that many issues in Age of Empires IV—most importantly, the AI logic, which has never been properly improved, and the limited extent of mod support—stem primarily from the limitations of the Relic engine itself and the development process. Just as Relic restricted broader modding starting from Company of Heroes 2, AoE IV’s engine is also a Relic engine, and they similarly developed Company of Heroes 3. Even after the game was handed over to World’s Edge, handling mod support and engine optimization would remain a major challenge.
However, this does not mean that World’s Edge has been particularly attentive or helpful to the modding community. On the contrary, because the studio lacks sufficient creativity, vision, and strategic thinking to support the overall development and operation of AoE IV, they have repeatedly prioritized the input of competitive esports players in balance updates while neglecting the broader non-competitive player base. For me, this is completely unacceptable. The one positive is that, like you, I don’t like esports—my reasoning is straightforward.
If a game is not inherently designed to be purely competitive, ensuring a satisfying experience for non-competitive players requires adding more details, interactions, deeper tactical mechanics, map intricacies, and diverse gameplay elements. These enrich single-player experience, which can then be leveraged for PVP, letting PVP benefit from a pre-established, well-rounded single-player framework. In contrast, an esports-focused approach overemphasizes competition, often removing non-competitive details and creative gameplay elements to simplify the experience for the sake of competitive balance. For me personally, an esports-oriented RTS is just a waste of time—electronic junk that offers no deep thinking or meaningful interaction. It only pressures players into focusing on isolated conflicts. Hence, esports focus is unnecessary, but PVP is essential. These are fundamentally different things—this is my bias.
While AoE IV’s sales are indeed strong, I believe this mostly stems from the IP’s reputation and the fact that it is a fully reimagined, ground-up game inspired by AoE II. It potentially includes the same volume of post-launch content, maps, and unit models with a distinct new visual style. The game should have offered more tactical and terrain interactions, more robust skirmish customization options, and a fully flexible play experience for different types of players. Unfortunately, over five years, I have seen no indication that World’s Edge has taken any of this seriously. If one were to excuse them, the engine might be a partial reason. As far as I can tell, AoE IV’s remaining player base is becoming increasingly homogenous rather than diverse, making future content sales more difficult. If World’s Edge continues on its current path, I fear the outcome.
World’s Edge also tends to remove details for no clear reason. For example, in the initial release, Byzantine watchtowers had a working catapult model and full animation. They removed it even though it did not impact gameplay. I cannot understand the rationale. In terms of balance, their approach is inconsistent, seemingly ignoring AoE IV’s core gameplay and design principles. They appear intent on overturning them. Compared to AoE II, AoE IV was originally designed to be relatively streamlined and faster-paced, but that does not mean unit differentiation was absent. On release, each military unit had clear roles and functions. After World’s Edge took over and repeatedly meddled, those roles have become blurred, with functions even being altered for balance. I do not understand their fixation on esports; perhaps they believe the game’s success depends on it. I wish them luck.
Finally, my personal bias is that I really don’t like Microsoft. To me, their project management and game divisions seem chaotic, and the survival pressure on such a large company is relatively low. According to reports, Spencer conducted layoffs, yet the gaming divisions remained bloated, with many employees collecting paychecks without contributing. Therefore, I think the AoE team is inevitably affected, especially a studio like World’s Edge. I don’t know the exact internal workings, but I suspect the studio is caught between two situations: they cannot go all out, yet due to limited ability and short-sightedness, they cannot adequately address the game’s needs. This leads to problems accumulating over time. In my view, AoE IV’s issues cannot be fixed with minor adjustments. World’s Edge has clearly lost its direction. They have never truly understood AoE IV. To me, all their updates so far reflect an ongoing attempt to impose what they believe is the “correct” thinking on AoE IV’s core gameplay, including balance decisions. One possible explanation is that they simply do not play the game, and because they do not understand it, they lack any clear operational vision or framework.