Age of Empires IV

Real Time Strategy (RTS)Strategy

Time to beat: about 28.1 hours

Overview

Age of Empires IV is a 2021 real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment in partnership with World's Edge and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the fourth installment of the Age of Empires series, the second set during the Middle Ages after Age of Empires II, and the first installment not developed by Ensemble Studios. The game was released on October 28, 2021 for Windows, August 22, 2023 for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and on November 4, 2025 for PlayStation 5.

The developer team states that the game is set during the Early Middle Ages to the early Renaissance, with the earliest appearance of any civilization being in the year 750. Gameplay is mostly similar to that of Age of Empires II.

On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announced Age of Empires IV, developed by Relic Entertainment. Microsoft's Executive Vice-president of Gaming, Phil Spencer, confirmed on June 11, 2019, that Age of Empires IV was still in development, with more information coming later in 2019. On November 14, 2019, gameplay footage of Age of Empires IV was shown at the X019 event. It showed medieval warfare between English and Mongol forces. On March 16, 2021, the fan preview was released, showing more detailed gameplay and also including the two other known civilizations, the Chinese and the Delhi Sultanate.

The game received "generally favorable reviews" on review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 82% of critics.