RTS fans, we’ve got some bad news for you today. Microsoft has just announced that Age of Empires: Definitive Edition has been delayed. While there isn’t any specific date yet, Microsoft now targets an early 2018 release.
As Microsoft noted, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition won’t be a simple remaster of the classic RTS game. Instead, the development team aims to recreate the experience “not as it *actually* was but as we all remember it.”
“The challenge of re-releasing a classic is just that: it’s a classic and it deserves to be treated with careful reverence. At the same time, in a living, thriving genre, norms continually evolve, technology advances, and player expectations change. This is as true for RTS as for any other genre. So, the challenge is to recreate the experience not as it *actually* was but as we all remember it.”
Microsoft will also launch a closed beta phase for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. The team will invite thousands more players from the community into its closed beta between now and launch. This will allow for more in-depth testing across single player campaign, multiplayer balance, fine-tuning the lobby, and more.
Microsoft concluded that it will be actively engaging with everyone participating in the closed beta to gather additional feedback. The team will set up multiplayer sessions, and ensure that the Age of Empires: Definitive Edition that it is delivering is the Definitive Edition that players want.
Age of Empires Definitive Edition will feature fully remastered visuals with 4K support, new zoom levels, new and improved gameplay, as well as a fully remastered soundtrack. This Definitive Edition of the classic strategy game will come with tons of new features, such as an Attack Move, 250-300 population cap, Rally Points Basic, Rally Points Contextual (Intelligent Villagers), Grid default key layout, Unit queuing and Right-click mouse scroll.
We should also note that Age of Empires Definitive Edition will be coming exclusively to the Windows Store. At this point, Microsoft does not have any plans for a Steam or a GOG release.
So there you have it, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition will be now coming out in 2018. Let’s just hope that Microsoft will take proper care of it!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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