The Age of Empires series, produced by technology giant Microsoft in partnership with Ensemble Studios, was one of the most popular strategy games from the childhood of an entire generation. Children wanted to play by claiming that they learned history, and parents allowed it because of its teaching side. It’s been almost 26 years since Age of Empires, “Age” as it was called at Microsoft, was released. Many of the games released in the 1990s today are now viewed as retro. So, what era is the Age living in today?
When the first game of the series was published in 1997, it made a big splash. Age Of Empires, a real-time strategy game with many innovations for its period, focused on a time period from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and even the Roman Empire.. The game, in which 17 ancient civilizations such as Assyrians, Babylonians, Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptians, Carthaginians and Romans took place, aimed to gather resources such as gold, wood, food, to establish an army and to develop the chosen civilization. The game could be played against opponents over the internet, either with the stories of the selected civilizations or with the multiplayer mode.
Turks take the stage!
Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings, the most well-known game of the series by gamers, was released in 1999. While many innovations stood out in the game, which was about the events in the Middle Ages, more than 40 civilizations could be selected from the Huns to the Aztecs, from the Franks to the Persians, from the Byzantines to the Britons. Undoubtedly, the most interesting part about the game was that Turks were added to the series for the first time with Age of Empires 2.
The fact that the selected characters speak Turkish is also an exciting factor among game lovers. The story part, which could be played by the players when the Turks were chosen, consisted of a timeline ranging from the Seljuk Turks to the Ottomans. As the special military unit of the Turks, the Janissary (Janissaries) rifle infantry stood out, while ‘sipahi’ and artillery special technologies could be unlocked for archers. The actor could also build the Selimiye Mosque as a Turkish artifact. When Turks are selected in the game, there are stories taken from many real events such as the Battle of Manzikert and the Conquest of Istanbul in the stories section. Many update packs of Age of Empires 2 have been released.
Age of Empires 3, the third game in the series, which was presented to game lovers in 2005, was mostly about the period of geographical discoveries. There are many civilizations in the game such as the British, Dutch, Spaniards, Germans, French and Ottomans. While there are special units such as Yörük, Başıbozuk, Janissary, Sipahi, special guard units such as Ulufeli Humbaracı and Deliler can be produced in the Ottomans.
It has a special place at Microsoft…
Its developers state that Age has a special place in Microsoft in the statements they give from time to time, therefore, he states that the company has increased its investments in the game in recent years.
In the game, all these possibilities are also offered to users who cannot give up the keyboard and mouse, and the option to play between computer and Xbox has been created for those who want to play cross-platform. Age of Empires 2 was produced for Microsoft’s game console Xbox in January 2023.
2023 will be a big year for the game’s fans because the fourth of the legendary game will be released on console this year, but a clear date has not been given yet. In the update that came to the game itself, there are features such as new features unique to all civilizations, new summer-specific maps and voice chat with the team. Apart from these, Age of Empires 4, the last game of the series, and Age of Mithology, which is about mythological characters, are among the other games of the series.
Is the game’s return in 2017 thanks to Bill Gates?
In 2017, the remaster version of Age of Empires 2, which was released in 1999, was released. Billionaire Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, may be behind this development. While Gates was having his annual Q&A on the social media platform Reddit in 2016, one of the users requested an Age of Empires from Gates.
Reddit user “Dear Gates, is it possible for you to release another Age of Empires? I don’t know if you’re looking at this, but I wanted to ask when I found you,” Gates said, “We’ll see, how many emperors do you need?” he had replied. Shortly after the development, Microsoft’s decision in question led to comments that “The game’s comeback was thanks to Bill Gates”. It is not known whether Bill Gates made the decision, but it is clear that the company did not remain unresponsive to the demands of users.
How many copies did he sell?
It is known that the legendary game, which has inspired countless video games to date, has sold over 25 million copies. The sales statistics of Age, which is one of the biggest commercial successes of the gaming world, are quite surprising.
Age, which was named Computer Strategy Game of the Year in 1998, remained on the bestseller lists for weeks. Its sales exceeded 3 million copies in 2000. That same year, The Rise of Rome also sold a million copies. In the same period, Microsoft announced that the sales of Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings exceeded 2 million. The HD version of Age of Empires 2 has sold over 5 million copies. Later Age of Mythology sold one million copies in 2003, while Age of Empires 3 sold a total of 2 million copies. Angle of the series selling 25 million copies in 2020, earning $1 billionhad clan.
Originally developed by Ensemble Studios in 1997, the main versions of the game, Age of Empires 2, Age of Mythology, Age of Empires 3, Age of Empire Online, were released until 2011, excluding intermediate versions. Then, after a big break, Age of Empires 4 came out in 2021. Its Xbox version is expected to be released later this year.
Sources: Age of Empires, Level, Insider, Wired, Gamereactor.eu, PC Games Insider
For the continuation of the article, there was an ‘Age of Empires’, what happened?