Age of Empires Online no longer available from August 22nd after GFWL closure
Many gamers will have heard that for a while Microsoft has been aiming to replace their currency for Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live from Microsoft Points to real local currency. Ie. Dollars, Euros and Pounds Sterling, or what ever your local currency is. In doing this the Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live services will need to make the switch over. This is scheduled to be be kicking off on August 22nd.
However, the bad news is that Games for Windows Live will not be making the transition to local currency and as such, Microsoft is infact closing the GFWL service all together. Infact as of just August 22nd the Games for Windows Live Store will be closed to new purchases of any kind. This means that no additional copies of Age of Empires Online or any DLC will be available via this store from August 22nd. It would seem that any DLC purchased through Steam would also not be available based on a now removed article on the AOE-O support website as reported by Age of Empires Online Heaven. Although the Steam issue is still awaiting official confirmation. Read more
Development of Age of Empires Online draws to a close
Since its release in August 2011 a vast amount of content has been released for Age of Empires Online. Firstly the Greek and Egyptians civilisations were (along with the core game) largely developed by Robot Entertainment until production shifted to Gas Powered Games as part of a planned transition in February 2011. Post-release Gas Powered Games have released various content packs including Skirmish Hall, Defence of Crete along with 4 additional civilisations – Norse, Persians, Celts and Babylonians. However today it was announced on the official website that content production and development of the game is now ceasing. Read more
News bite: Orcs Must Die! XBLA Sale + Skirmish Hall launches for AOE-O
Orcs Must Die! features on this weeks Xbox Live sale. Now is a great time to tell all your friends about the need to go Orc slashin’, from just 600 MS Points! Be sure to check it out and spread the word! http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Orcs-Must-Die/
In other news Hero Academy is due to launch globally in the next few days. Your nickname for Hero Academy will be the same as that on your RobotEntertainment.com profile. Why not encourage your friends to sign up online so that they are ready to go into battle when the game launches for iOS devices in the next few days? Read more
Persian civilisation launches for Age of Empires Online today!
Great news for Age of Empires Online fans – Microsoft Studios and Gas Powered Games are today pushing out the brand new civilisations, the Persians! The Persians will be the first “pro” civilisation. This means players start straight away at level 20 allowing players to immediately tech up and start with gear already attached. Players will be able jump straight into the action with Persia with no worries about having to trudge through the early levels for experienced players. This does come at a cost though as there is no story driving campaign quests with the Persians. Microsoft Studios clarified on the reasons for this as follows:
Persia won’t have a story campaign, since our goal was to get players access to high level content quickly. We’d love to create some Persian story content later, since that culture has an amazing history, but for this launch, we wanted to focus on a way to accelerate advanced players into gameplay. Read more
2 new civilisations and a new booster pack for Age of Empires Online revealed!
Microsoft Studios today announced 2 brand new civilisations to the Age of Empires Online family, the Celts and the Persians. Both of these exciting new civilisation will be available in the holiday season, they wont be available at launch but will be DLC for a little later down the road. This gives players plenty of time to enjoy the Greeks and Egyptians before moving forward! The new civilisations bring with them new unit and building art, including new gear. Each civilisation will likely have its own unique play style including different bonuses – they’ll certainly shake things up for competitive players! Read more
Age of Empires Online launching August 16th!
Quick update here – Microsoft has just announced that Age of Empires Online will be launching this August 16th. This exciting news will certainly be something for Age of Empires fans to look forward to. With 40 hours of free gameplay and a whole bunch of extra downloadable content this Age of Empires could well be the biggest Age of Empires game in the series thus far. A vast majority of the core game design from art to game play has come from Ex-Ensembler’s at Robot Entertainment before Gas Powered Games took over towards the end of the development process. For Age of Empires, Ensemble and Robot fans gear up for an exciting August! Read more
Age of Empires Online launching this autumn
Microsoft has today announced to Eurogamer that they plan to launch Robot Entertainment and Gas Powered Games developed Age of Empires Online later this year towards the Autumn. The game was originally penned to be released in the Summer but it looks like the game might be pushed back slightly. The game is launching with two civilisations, the Greeks and the Egyptians. Indications from the open beta indicate that a third civilisation is almost certainly a possibility post launch. Read more
Beta NDA lifted on Age of Empires Online
Microsoft Game Studios have today removed the non disclosure agreement for current beta testers of Age of Empires Online. This means current beta users are now free to discuss the game openly with the public. In light of this the forums over at www.ageofempiresonline.com are now merged with there being no separate beta section any more. There is no news of yet as to whether this change will result in a public beta but keep your eyes peeled for any possible news.
This news can only mean the development is getting closer to launch. After Robot Entertainment completed work on the game in February, Gas Powered Games took over as lead developers to complete the final polish and features. With the NDA lifted you can be sure to expect more AOE-O previews and insights from the existing beta players. Head over to www.ageofempiesonline.com now and get involved in the discussion!
Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games talks to Venture Beat about Age Online
Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games who have recently took over the Age of Empires Online development from Robot Entertainment has given an interesting 6 minute interview to Venture Beat on his thoughts regarding Age Online. Chris Taylor re-affirms the community that his studio are excited about the game and post release content. There will be a number of booster packs post launch including vanity packs to jazz up capital cities and packs to unlock premium civilizations. Check out the video interview below: Read more
Robot Entertainment no longer lead developer on Age of Empires Online
In a very unexpected turn of events Microsoft have announced the end of Robot Entertainment’s involvement with Age of Empires Online. Todays blog post on the official Age of Empires Online Community website indicates that:
This has been the plan for some time, and we’re excited to share the great work GPG has been doing. In working with GPG, it’s become clear they share our long-term commitment to make this a success. Our previous development partner, Robot Entertainment, did amazing work on the game, and we wish them the best in their future projects. Read more
