Highlights
- Age of Empires 4 is now available on Xbox Game Pass for consoles, expanding the selection of strategy games on the platform.
- The console ports of Age of Empires 4 come with the Anniversary Edition, which includes extra content and improvements.
- The Xbox versions of Age of Empires 4 have a tutorial system for gamepad controls and are highly similar to the PC original.
The console ports of Age of Empires 4 are now available on Xbox Game Pass. This release adds to the ever-growing library of excellent strategy games on Xbox Game Pass.
While Age of Empires 4 was technically a day one release on Xbox Game Pass, Relic Entertainment's critically acclaimed RTS was initially a PC exclusive. A year into its late 2021 debut, Microsoft confirmed that the game will also reach the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2023, but without committing to a specific release date for its console ports.
The gaming giant used the latest iteration of Gamescom as an opportunity to shadow-drop the console version of Age of Empires 4, which is now also available via Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft's subscribers have access to the Anniversary Edition of the hit real-time strategy, which comes with several notable improvements compared to the base game. Among other things, the Anniversary Edition of Age of Empires 4 includes more achievements, eight additional maps, a couple of extra biomes, and two new civilizations, the Malians and Ottomans.
One notable difference between the console and PC versions of Age of Empires 4 is that the Xbox ports feature an in-depth tutorial system meant to introduce players to the new gamepad control scheme. The last two generations of Microsoft's consoles also support PC peripherals, though it's currently unclear whether the Xbox versions of the RTS can actually be played with a keyboard-and-mouse combo. Other than that, the Xbox console ports of Age of Empires 4 appear to be identical to the PC original.
Regarding the game itself, the 16-year wait between the last two numbered installments in the iconic franchise was seemingly worth it, as suggested by the fact that Age of Empires 4 was met with near-universal critical acclaim and fan adoration following its 2021 release. The PC version of the game currently boasts an aggregate score of 81 on Metacritic, in addition to featuring "very positive" user reviews on Steam, based on over 40,000 player ratings. Age of Empires 4 also seized the award for the Best Sim/Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2021. As such, this release should additionally bolster the already impressive catalog of renowned strategy titles on Xbox Game Pass.
Age of Empires 4 is not the only critically acclaimed strategy game that Microsoft added to its subscription service on August 22. Just several hours ago, Xbox Game Pass received another such surprise addition in the form of Sega's turn-based 4X game Humankind. Much like Age of Empires 4, Humankind also spent the last two years as a PC exclusive before reaching Xbox consoles.
Age of Empires 4 is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.