The continuing quest to bring Age of Empires to mobile
Age of Empires was originally launched for PC in 1997. Since then, the historical real-time strategy series has had multiple releases on platforms such as home consoles and mobile devices. With Age of Empires 4 pleasing fans on PC and Xbox, Microsoft is making another attempt to attract smartphone audiences with the upcoming Age of Empires Mobile.
Development for the title began in 2021, but it currently does not have a planned release schedule. It is currently co-developed by TiMi Studio in partnership with World's Edge, and Xbox Game Studios serves as its publisher.
Brayden Fan, studio general manager of the Age of Empires Mobile team at TiMi Studio, tells GamesIndustry.biz that the game was not necessarily pitched. Instead, the project came about after years of collaboration with the gaming firms.
"It is more the result of a long series of discussions. This is something we have been pushing for a long time, but we just needed to find the right opportunity," he explains.
This is the third time Microsoft has partnered with another developer to find a way to bring Age of Empires to smartphones. 2014's Age of Empires: Castle Siege, developed by Smoking Gun Interactive, was a tower defence title, while 2015's Age of Empires: World Domination, developed by KLab was a mix of city builder and real-time strategy battles that took place separately from your base.
Both titles have since shut down and Age of Empires Mobile aims to create a different type of experience for the series, one that plays to the franchise's strengths while still being accessible to a mobile audience.
The new Age of Empires title follows TiMi's track record of working on established mobile IPs. Its past projects include Pokémon Unite, Call of Duty Mobile, and Saint Seiya: Awakening.
He explains, "I worked on the development team for Pokémon Unite, which brought a competitive online multiplayer experience to the series for the first time. I'm familiar with the idea of bringing a new game to a series. Age of
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