Over 25 years into Age of Empires’ history, it seems the storied strategy series is riding a high. Developers World’s Edge have announced their plans to follow up last year’s The Sultans Ascend DLC for Age of Empires 4 – said to be the best-selling expansion in the entire series’ history – with some new additions to the latest RTS instalment this spring.
Laying out plans for Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition and Age of Empires 4 during today’s New Year, New Age announcement stream, World’s Edge confirmed that Age of Empires 4’s next update would arrive in spring.
The update will mark the beginning of Season 7 for the game, as well as adding some new content and features. Among the additions confirmed to be on the way is a new free-for-all mode for quickmatch in multiplayer, while away from PC Xbox players – who got a console-ised, controller-friendly port last summer – will get team ranked play.
Meanwhile, Age of Empires 3’s Definitive Edition saw its next two playable civilisations teased. While neither incoming faction was named, flags for Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – which existed from the mid-16th century until the late 19th century – were shown on-screen, signalling their impending appearance.
The two DLC factions won’t arrive until late 2024, World’s Edge said. Before then, you can get a taste of the spruced-up Age of Empires 3 without paying a penny due to its free trial, though the full game’s also currently half off on Steam, too.