Microsoft Announces Age of Empires IV, Developed by Relic Entertainment

I remember Age of Empires II fondly; it was my first PC game, really. The intro sequence of chess really served to put my young mind racing towards ideas of military movements and countermovements, and led me towards devouring historical romances accompanying the exploits of Alexander the Great (Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novels), and Hannibal Barca (I'm partial to Ross Leckie in this one). Now, Microsoft has announced yet another installment in this PC-exclusive series, after Age of Empires III's somewhat lukewarm reception. Age of Empires IV is coming for all of your medieval RTS needs.Since Microsoft has since dismantled Age of Empires historical developers Ensemble Studios (while finishing development on the first Halo Wars, no less), the helm of the series is now being taken by Relic Entertainment (of Warhammer 40,000K: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes fame), in partnership with Microsoft Studios. In an announcement on its website, Relic wrote that "[We] couldn't be more proud to be a part of the legacy, (...) We can't wait to tap into our strengths as a studio to fuse historical context with deep strategic gameplay, and to bring this franchise back to the forefront of gaming and into the hands of its beloved community." And this is not all: in addition to the previously announced Definitive Edition of Age of Empires I, which will be out in the wild come October 19th, Microsoft also announced Definitive Editions of Age of Empires 2 and 3. Fest your eyes on the trailers below.