Xbox is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, during which it announced 21 new games coming to the Xbox Backwards Compatibility program, and, as part of its anniversary celebrations, Microsoft and Xbox are giving PC gamers 25 Xbox Game Studios games for free when they register a new Windows 11 PC. The deal is valid in the US, and it is only valid for PCs purchased until December 31, 2026.

Some of the highlights in the game bundle include Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, Doom and Doom II, The Outer Worlds, and Gears of War: Reloaded. While Microsoft has been vague about the eligible devices, it includes select PCs with Windows Home or OEM and NVIDIA Spark PCs with Windows Pro. There is also a page on the Microsoft online store that lists eligible PCs, which include everything from the Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 to the HP OmniDesk AI and the Dell Alienware Aurora desktop. PCs purchased from authorized retailers will also be eligible, and the announcement deliberately calls out gaming handhelds, like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally.

2024 was a year for Age of Empires and Age of Mythology players shaped by your passion, creativity, and epic moments. Thanks to your dedication, it's been an incredible year not just for the community, but for the franchise as a whole. Together, we've had an incredible year. We kicked things off with the New Year, New Age showcase, crowned champions at Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado, connected with many of you at Gamescom, and celebrated the launches of Age of Mythology: Retold and Age of Empires Mobile. Along the way, we expanded the franchise in new ways and welcomed over 10 million new players—reaching an incredible milestone of 60 million Age of Empires players worldwide. Our players continue to influence the many ways in which the franchise moves forward. Today we're thrilled to start 2025 by unveiling what's ahead. Settle in, because we've got a lot to share!

Immortal Pillars Expansion Launches March 4, Pre-Order Now
For Age of Mythology: Retold players, the wait is almost over! After revealing the Immortal Pillars expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold at Tokyo Game Show, we're excited to announce it will launch on March 4th—and pre-orders are live now! Packed with brand-new content, this expansion introduces the Chinese pantheon, alongside stunning new maps, myth units, and gameplay features. Check out some highlights of all the exciting content here! As a reminder, if you already own the Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition, Immortal Pillars is yours at no additional cost—jump in and play on day one!

Welcome to the month of September, the start of autumn for some and the start of spring for others. The new month starts off at a higher tempo than last month, but there are no AAA releases this month, although there are multiple larger releases. This week's major release is a new take on the traditional first person tactical shooter genre, where there are two of you. This is followed by a WWII tactical stealth adventure, a trucking game, but in space, a godly remake, a tavern and finally a sleuth game with a Japanese twist. Don't forget to change over your wardrobes this week.

Spectre Divide / This week's major release / Tuesday 3 September
Spectre Divide is the genre-evolving, competitive 3v3 tactical shooter driven by Duality. Use Duality to control two bodies in real-time, letting you defend two sites at once, cover your own cross, or even trade yourself. Master tactical gunplay and an arsenal of future tech to achieve infamy. Steam Link

We on the Age of Empires team want to say a huge thank you to our 50 million players around the world. 2023 was a huge year for our games and our community. We wanted to share a look at what there is to look forward to in 2024 and we've just wrapped our New Year, New Age show which did just that. If you watched, thank you for joining us! If you weren't able to join us live, or you just want a reminder of all the things we covered, here's what's coming this year.

Age of Mythology: Retold is another title that got its debut at our 25th anniversary. Since then, we've continued to develop this exciting reimagining of fan favorite Age of Mythology. Art Director Melinda Rose gave players worldwide their first look at Retold via three in-game units, brought to life through amazing AR technology. Showcasing Medusa, Pegasus and Cerberus from the Greek pantheon, Melinda took us through how each unit has been updated, given completely new art and even had gameplay tweaks that will intensify their strengths and unique powers making them even more important in your strategy. They will be stronger, faster, bigger and bolder. We are also beyond thrilled to announce that players do not have long to wait. Age of Mythology: Retold is coming to Xbox consoles and PC in 2024 and is available to wishlist on Steam now!

It's a new year and a time to reset, reflect and think about what the next few months has in store. Here on the Age of Empires team, we've got a LOT lined up for 2024. Instead of trying to summarize it in a lengthy blog post, we decided to make a show of it! We're excited to announce the "New Year, New Age" livestream on February 23rd at 10:00 am PT (1:00 pm ET / 18:00 UTC).

With so much to come in 2024, we want to show our players around the world what to expect from the Age of Empires franchise this year. We'll be revealing more information on some of our most anticipated titles for 2024 - so expect to see a sneak peek of Age of Mythology: Retold and a first look at Age of Empires Mobile. If you're eager to know what's next for our games already in your library, don't worry, we'll have updates for those titles too.

Microsoft is apparently planning to take care of their Age of Mythology games series in the future. If anything, Adam Isgreen being Creative Director for Age of Empires at Microsoft saying so must surely mean it. However, this will only be done post current plans for the Age of Empires franchise, as Adam Isgreen said that they'll devote time to Age of Mythology "after we get through the Definitive Editions for the three here, and [Age of Empires] 4 is kind of rolling".

Age of Mythology takes a pretty creative look at mythology (which could be seen as a creative source material in and of itself), but that's part of what makes the game fun. It has already been treated to an Age of Mythology: Extended Edition back in 2014, so we'll have to wait on whether Microsoft is planning of releasing a Definitive Edition of the game, or a full-blown sequel altogether.