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Age of Empires IV

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Age of Empires IV
Age of Empires IV cover
Developers
Relic Entertainment
World's Edge
Publishers
Xbox Game Studios
Engines
Essence Engine 5
Release dates
Windows October 28, 2021
Reception
Metacritic 81
OpenCritic 83
IGDB 82
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view
Controls Multiple select, Point and select
Genres RTS
Themes Medieval
Series Age of Empires
Age of Empires IV on HowLongToBeat
Age of Empires IV on IGDB
Age of Empires IV on MobyGames
Age of Empires IV on Wikipedia
Age of Empires 1997
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 1999
Age of Mythology 2002
Age of Empires III 2005
Age of Empires Online 2011
Age of Empires II: HD Edition 2013
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition 2014
Age of Empires: Castle Siege 2014
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition 2018
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020
Age of Empires IV 2021
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024

Age of Empires IV is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view RTS game in the Age of Empires series.

On October 25, 2022, during the franchise's 25th anniversary celebration, the game was updated with two additional civilizations (Malians and Ottomans) and retitled to Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition. The game was released for Xbox One and Series X|S on August 22, 2023, but unlike Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, crossplay between PC and console players is not enabled.[1] The first major expansion pack, The Sultans Ascend, was released on November 14, 2023.

The game retains its popularity as of June 2023, with major sponsored multiplayer events constantly organized. Updates are still being made to resolve bugs and imbalances, as well as occasionally introducing new map templates.

General information

Official Discord server for the series
Official forum
Official support knowledgebase
Steam Community Discussions
Age of Empires on Liquipedia

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Requires online activation
Choice of Microsoft Store or Steam key.
Microsoft Store
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Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
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Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
Humble Store
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Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Included with Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Windows
Steam
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Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Microsoft Store
Windows
All versions require Arxan Anti-Tamper DRM

Version differences

The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the base game, the digital soundtrack, a compilation image of Craig Mullins' art for the game, a unit counter chart, an in-game coat of arms, an in-game player profile portrait and an in-game town center monument.

Monetization

Type Notes
DLC The single DLC for this game is an optional download to reduce installation size for players who do not meet 4K requirements.
Expansion pack The Sultans Ascend expansion pack includes additional civilizations, campaigns, map templates and biomes.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
4K HDR Video Pack Free DLC; replaces standard campaign and reward video files with their 4K HDR counterparts.
Windows
The Sultans Ascend
Windows

Essential improvements

Skip intro video

Use command line argument[2]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires IV\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1466860/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires IV\Users\(UserID)\Savegames\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1466860/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Pillarboxed in menus and campaign videos
4K Ultra HD
The free 4K HDR Video DLC adapts the video files to this resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
Can be uncapped entirely.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
The free 4K HDR Video DLC adapts the video files to this option.
Color blind mode
High contrast mode.

Input

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Relates only to camera movement.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Sound settings
Sound settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Master, music, speech, sound effects.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Off, movies only, movies and in-game options (available in the Accessibility menu).
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Danish
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Dutch
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Finnish
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
French
German
Greek
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Hindi
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Hungarian
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Polish
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Portuguese
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Swedish
Added in the Anniversary Update.[3]
Turkish
Vietnamese

Network

Online settings
Online settings

Multiplayer types

Type Native Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Ranked matchmaking (1v1 only) added on 7 April 2022.
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues unresolved

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 12
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok
Audio Wwise
Multiplayer Relic BattleServer

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5-6300U
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 50 GB
Video card (GPU) Intel HD Graphics 520
AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
DirectX 12 compatible
A 64-bit operating system is required.


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1466860/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1466860) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References