Age of Empires is a series of historical real-time strategy video games created by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. The first game in the series, Age of Empires, covered events in Europe, Africa, and Asia from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. A later version of the game focused on the growth of the Roman Empire. The next game, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, was set during the Middle Ages, and its expansion included the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Age of Empires III and its two expansions explored the early modern period, when European countries were colonizing the Americas and some Asian nations were losing power. Another game, Age of Empires Online, is a free-to-play online game that uses the Games for Windows Live platform. A related game, Age of Mythology, took place during the same time period as the original Age of Empires but included stories from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. The fourth main game in the series, Age of Empires IV, was released on October 28, 2021, and also focused on the Middle Ages. The Age of Empires series has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
Games
The games in the series focus on historical events throughout time. Age of Empires covers events from the Stone Age to the Classical period in Europe and Asia. Its expansion, The Rise of Rome, follows the formation and rise of the Roman Empire. Age of Kings and its Nintendo DS version cover Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages. The expansion pack, The Conquerors, takes place during the same period but also includes scenarios about the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, El Cid, and Attila the Hun. Age of Empires III and its first expansion, The WarChiefs, are set during the European colonization of the Americas. Its second expansion, The Asian Dynasties, follows the rise of Asian civilizations during the same time. Age of Empires Online focuses on Greek and Egyptian civilizations. The series' spin-off, Age of Mythology, and its expansion, The Titans, are set during the Bronze Age but focus on mythology instead of history.
Age of Empires was released on October 15, 1997, and was the first game in the series, as well as the first major release from Ensemble Studios. It was one of the first history-based real-time strategy games, using the Genie game engine. GameSpot described it as a mix of Civilization and Warcraft. Players can choose from 12 civilizations to develop from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. The expansion pack, The Rise of Rome, published by Microsoft on October 31, 1998, added new features and four new civilizations, including the Romans. Although the games had many software bugs, patches fixed many of the problems.
Age of Empires received mostly positive reviews, though some critics had negative opinions. GameSpot said the game had a confusing design, while Computer and Video Games praised its single-player and multiplayer modes. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named Age of Empires the 1998 "Computer Strategy Game of the Year." The game remained high on sales charts, with over three million units sold by 2000. The Rise of Rome sold one million units in 2000 and had an 80% aggregate score from GameRankings.
In June 2017, Adam Isgreen, creative director of Xbox Game Studios, announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017. It includes updated graphics for 4K resolution, a remastered soundtrack, and gameplay improvements. Originally planned for October 19, 2017, the release was delayed until February 20, 2018. Microsoft later announced that the Definitive Edition would also be available on Steam in 2019, along with Definitive Editions of Age of Empires II and III.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was released on September 30, 1999, and used the Genie game engine. Its gameplay was similar to the first game, and it is set during the Middle Ages, from the Dark Ages to the Imperial Age. Players can choose from 13 civilizations, including those from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The expansion pack, The Conquerors, was published by Microsoft on August 24, 2000. It added new units and five new civilizations, including the Maya and Aztec from Mesoamerica. Age of Kings was more successful than the first two games, with Game Rankings and Metacritic scores of 92%. Microsoft sold over two million copies, and the game won awards. Critics said The Conquerors improved the game, though some gameplay was unbalanced. Age of Kings and The Conquerors won the "Computer Strategy Game of the Year" awards in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
In April 2013, Age of Empires II: HD Edition was released on Steam for Windows. It includes the original game, The Conquerors expansion, and updated graphics for high-resolution displays. Age of Empires II: The Forgotten was an unofficial expansion that added new campaigns, civilizations, and features. It was later developed into an official expansion by SkyBox Labs and Forgotten Empires, and released as The Forgotten HD in 2013. A third expansion, The African Kingdoms, was released in 2015, and a fourth, Rise of the Rajas, in 2016. Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in 2017.
In 2019, Adam Isgreen shared details about Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It was developed by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, and Wicked Witch Software. The game includes 4K graphics, Xbox Live multiplayer support, four new civilizations, three new campaigns, and other improvements. It was released on November 14, 2019. Microsoft confirmed that the HD Edition would remain available for sale after the Definitive Edition's release.
Age of Empires III was released on October 18, 2005, and used an improved version of the Age of Mythology game engine. It includes updated graphics and the Havok physics engine. The game is set between 1421 and 1850, and players can choose from eight European nations. It introduced features like home cities, which provide resources and upgrades. The first expansion, The WarChiefs, was released in 2006 and added three new civilizations, including Native American ones. The second expansion, The Asian Dynasties, was released in 2007 and expanded the game's setting to Asia, adding three new civilizations. Reviews of Age of Empires III were mixed. It sold over two million copies and won the GameSpy "real-time strategy game of the year" award. The WarChiefs and The Asian Dynasties had lower scores than the original game.
Collectors' editions of Age of Empires III included a hardcover artbook. The last page of the artbook shows a series image with Roman numerals from I to V, suggesting the series would include Age of Empires IV and V. Ensemble Studios employee Sandy Petersen said the image was based on speculation.
In 2008, Microsoft announced that Ensemble Studios would close after completing Halo Wars.
Development
The development of the Age of Empires games followed similar steps in many ways. Because the games are based on real events, the team did a lot of research. However, the research was not very detailed, as Age of Empires designer Bruce Shelley explained. He said this approach is "a good idea for most entertainment products." Shelley also mentioned that Ensemble Studios used materials from children's sections in libraries. He noted the goal was to make the game fun for players, "not [its] designers or researchers." At a conference in 2007, Shelley added that the series succeeded by creating a game that appealed to both casual and serious gamers. He also said the games were not about history itself but about the human experience, focusing on what humans could do in the future, such as "going into space." Ensemble Studios made Age of Mythology differently from the first two games. The team worried they could not make another history-based game and chose mythology as the setting after discussing other options.
The artificial intelligence (AI) in the Age of Empires series was improved regularly by designers. AI specialist Dave Pottinger said the team gave the AI in the original game a high priority and spent over a year working on it. He explained the AI used tactics and strategies to win, not by cheating or making its units stronger. Pottinger noted the team was proud of the AI playing a "fair game" and not knowing what the player was doing, following the same rules as human opponents.
Players in Age of Empires can choose to play with story-based conditions or battle the AI. Choosing to fight the AI allows it to adapt to players' strategies and remember past games. After several matches, the AI can overcome players' strategies and destroy their villages. In Age of Empires III, this is called a "Skirmish." Players can also refine their strategies by "building a Deck," which lets them replace "Home City" shipments with better options.
In Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, the AI was a top priority, leading to the "smart villager" feature. This feature was later included in other games. Smart villagers would collect resources related to structures they built, such as crops from farms or ore from deposits.
Age of Mythology: The Titans allows players to use an AI debugger when creating custom scenarios. This lets players change how computer players act. Similar basic changes were available in the first two games.
The graphics in Age of Empires improved with each new release. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings received praise for its better visuals. Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III were also well-received for their graphics. GameSpot praised the improved visuals in Age of Empires II. Eurogamer liked the addition of female villagers in that version. Allgame praised the grouping and path-finding systems but noted units were sometimes hard to tell apart. Game Revolution called Age of Empires II "the best looking of the 2D RTS games."
Reviewers praised the graphics in Age of Mythology, with IGN calling them "a joy to watch" and GameSpot giving them a nine out of ten. Age of Empires III received even more praise, with IGN saying its graphics were "unmatched in the strategy genre." The game used advanced features like Havok physics and PhysX for realistic effects. GameSpy awarded Age of Empires III the "Best Graphics" award in 2005.
Stephen Rippy has been the music director for the series since the first game. He used instruments from the time periods in the games, using real instruments and digital samples. For Age of Kings, the team could recreate medieval music easily. In Age of Mythology, orchestral music was used. The team also collected audio from zoos to build a large sound library. Age of Empires III used historical instruments like bagpipes and field drums for realism.
Ensemble Studios partnered with Big Huge Games to develop Age of Empires III's expansion, The Asian Dynasties. This was their first joint project. Ensemble was busy with other work, like Halo Wars, while Big Huge had fewer projects. Big Huge did most of the work, but Ensemble's designers helped with ideas and final approval. Both teams tested the game before its release.
Reception and legacy
The Age of Empires series has been very successful in selling games. By 2008, five games in the series had each sold more than one million copies. According to Gamasutra, the original Age of Empires had sold more than three million copies, and The Rise of Rome had sold one million copies by 2000. Around the same time, Microsoft reported that they had shipped over two million copies of The Age of Kings. In 2003, Microsoft announced that one million copies of Age of Mythology had been sold. By 2004, before Age of Empires III was released, the Age of Empires series had sold over 15 million copies. On May 18, 2007, Ensemble Studios announced that two million copies of Age of Empires III had been sold. Games in the series have received high scores on websites like GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect reviews from many sources. The highest-rated game is Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, which received a 92% score from both sites.
Critics say Age of Empires influenced other real-time strategy (RTS) games, such as Rise of Nations, Empire Earth, and Cossacks. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was also influenced by the series. It used the same Genie game engine as Age of Empires and Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. Critics said it was very similar to the games. IGN began their review by saying, "I love Age of Star Wars, I mean Star Empires. Whatever it's called, I dig it." GameSpot wrote that the basics of the Age of Empires II engine were still in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, so players who knew Age of Empires II could play it easily. In October 2005, Shelley talked about the series’ impact. In a GameSpy interview, he said parents told Ensemble Studios that their children were reading books about ancient Greece because they enjoyed playing with triremes in the game, or that they wanted to learn about medieval history because the game taught them about trebuchets.
Shelley said the success of the games came from innovation, not copying other games. He said the unique parts of the games helped Ensemble Studios become known as experts in the real-time strategy genre. Mark Bozon of IGN wrote in his review of The Age of Kings that the series was one of the most innovative real-time strategy games for PC in the last decade. Gamenikki called Ensemble Studios "the developer that started it all" when talking about how much Age of Empires III helped improve the real-time strategy genre. Shelley said the success and innovation of Age of Empires helped Ensemble Studios survive in its early years. In 2005, Shelley said critics had an "innovation bias" against the series. He pointed out that even though Age of Empires III was the best-selling PC game at the time, reviewers expected something completely new and gave it lower scores.
Bungie, the company that made Halo, chose Ensemble Studios to develop Halo Wars, an RTS game based on their Halo series. They said one reason they chose Ensemble was because of the Age of Empires series. They also said Ensemble was the best choice to bring the original vision of Halo to life, which started as an RTS game.
In 2024, the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado Age of Empires II tournament had the second-highest viewership in the game’s history, with 85,800 people watching at the same time. The event took place at the Castle of Almodóvar, Spain, and featured eight top players, including TheViper and Hera, who won the final 5-1. This was a 12% increase in viewership compared to the previous series, showing that Age of Empires II is becoming more popular in esports.