Level Up Your Gaming Experience with the Newest Addition to Xbox Game Pass: An Award-Winning Strategy Game
An acclaimed strategy game, boasting an impressive 81 aggregate score on Metacritic, joins Xbox Game Pass just under two years after its release Get ready to immerse yourself in this award-winning title!
Highlights
Age of Empires 4 is now available on Xbox Game Pass for consoles, expanding the selection of strategy games on the platform.
Age of Empires 4's console ports are bundled with the Anniversary Edition, offering additional content and enhancements.
The Xbox versions of Age of Empires 4 feature a tutorial system specifically designed for gamepad controls, closely resembling the original PC version.
Age of Empires 4 is now accessible on Xbox Game Pass, broadening the collection of top-tier strategy games available on the platform. Although initially exclusive to PC, this highly praised RTS by Relic Entertainment became available on Xbox Game Pass on its launch day. Microsoft recently announced that it will be coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2023, but has yet to specify a release date for the console versions.
The gaming giant leveraged the latest Gamescom to surprise-release the console edition of Age of Empires 4, which is now accessible through Xbox Game Pass as well. Microsoft's subscribers are granted access to the enhanced Anniversary Edition of the popular real-time strategy game, featuring notable enhancements compared to the base game. The Anniversary Edition amplifies the gameplay experience with additional achievements, eight extra maps, two new civilizations (the Malians and Ottomans), and a couple of supplementary biomes.
One significant distinction between the console and PC versions of Age of Empires 4 is the inclusion of an extensive tutorial system in the Xbox ports, designed to introduce players to the new gamepad controls. Additionally, the Xbox versions also support PC peripherals on the last two generations of Microsoft's consoles, although it remains uncertain whether the RTS can be played with a keyboard-and-mouse combo on Xbox. Apart from this, the Xbox console ports of Age of Empires 4 present themselves as identical to the original PC version.
Regarding the game itself, the 16-year gap between the previous two numbered entries in the beloved franchise proved to be well worth it. Age of Empires 4, released in 2021, received widespread critical acclaim and fan praise. With an aggregate score of 81 on Metacritic and "very positive" user reviews on Steam based on over 40,000 player ratings, the game has been highly regarded. Additionally, Age of Empires 4 won the Best Sim/Strategy Game award at The Game Awards 2021. This release further enhances the already impressive lineup of acclaimed strategy titles available on Xbox Game Pass.
Not only did Microsoft add Age of Empires 4 to its subscription service on August 22, but they also surprised users with the inclusion of Sega's turn-based 4X game Humankind. Like Age of Empires 4, Humankind was previously exclusive to PC for two years before making its way to Xbox consoles.
Age of Empires 4 is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
