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Age of Empires Online launches this fall

by Alexander Sliwinski on May 11th 2011 7:30PM

Age of Empires Online's march to retail will conclude this fall, the game's official Twitter announced, with a Microsoft rep informing us a specific launch date is expected to be revealed May 31.

After launch, the freemium title will have "a parade of Premium Content" at under $20. The additions include two more civs to keep the Greeks and Egyptians company by the end of 2011, along with a "Premium 'Pro' Civilization" pack that will advance players immediately to level 20 for "expert play."

Check out our Age of Empires Online preview for what to expect from the initial experience.

Source: Twitter - @AgeofEmpires

Tags: age-of-empires, Age-of-Empires-Online, fall-2011, Gas-Powered-Games, Microsoft, pc, release-date

Reader Comments (16)

They could've always, y'know, left the AoE2 servers online and I'd have been happy with that.

@wcarnation The show must go on.

cool :) ill be looking forward to it if i can take a break from starcraft 2

Been in the beta for this and I must say it is quite fun.

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

It really is my first AoE game and its great for jumping into.

Microsoft practically owns AoE right? So this probably won't be on Macs?

@WildYorkies

MS doesn't practically own it, they do own it.

@WildYorkies
Er, the series has always been a Microsoft IP.

But how does it work? Is this an MMO / RTS? Anyone have a link that explains how it works? I searched online but found nothing.

@uncarlo

How hard did you search?

http://ageofempiresonline.com/

@uncarlo it's a real-time strategy MMO. Meaning all players are controlling their armies at the same time.

@Antilight not very, I was at work. Thanks!

@FEARtheone24 I see. It's weird, I like MMOs and I like RTS, but here the genres don't seem to blend that good. I guess I'll have to try it.

@uncarlo
It's an RTS with an MMO metagame. You basically have "gear" that you equip your units and you use a skill tree to unlock techs that you research in-game, but as soon as you start a "quest" it becomes classic AoE RTS goodness.

If you enjoy AoE, your enjoyment of AoE Online will be derived directly from how much you like the MMO metagame. Some people seem to like it, whereas others think it horrendously bogs down an otherwise fine RTS. I guess it depends on how you look at it. I don't mind the metagame much myself.

I can't wait for this game to come out it looks so interesting.

I think it's an interesting model for a relatively old genre. I played the beta a little bit and the game was a lot of fun. For me, it just comes down to how much money you need to invest to be competitive and how the micro transactions will work.

I still have a hard time valuing virtual items vs collectibles, like table top miniatures ... and yes, I realize that the miniatures aren't forever either in that they've been donated, thrown away or are sitting at the bottom of a closet somewhere nowadays.

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