The Age of Empires franchise launched on PC in 1997 and has gone on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide. However, Age of Empires Online signals a shift for both the franchise and PC gaming as a whole towards free-to-play.
“This game is in the big leagues,” said Chris Taylor, chief executive and creative director at Gas Powered Games to VentureBeat. “If you’re wondering where PC gaming is going next, this is where it’s going. It’s a huge shift.”
Players can download the game for free and have access to the Greek or Egyptian civilizations for play. In order to have a permanent city, that costs $20, with new civilizations worth about that much too and decorative buildings selling for $4.99 or less.
“We think of it as an MMO with real-time strategy,” said Danan Davis, executive producer of the game. “It’s going to be easy to get into, but hard to master. We keep adding layers of depth, but you can play at the level that suits you. There are many ways to customize it.”
Microsoft clearly sees the potential with the franchise, letting it run in development for two years and holding a beta for 12 months with 180,000 players.
“I’m glad we arrived here, since it’s a long time since our industry has been this exciting,” Taylor said. “We think this game will be one of the best value propositions out there in free-to-play games.”
