Age of Empires, a highly renowned real-time strategy game, is now making its way to mobile platforms. The franchise is being brought to mobile by World’s Edge in partnership with Tencent’s TiMi Studio, known for developing successful mobile games like Honor of Kings, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Pokémon Unite.
This upcoming title will be a free-to-play game available for pre-registration in various regions. It will incorporate elements of real-time strategy gameplay along with 4X strategy, a genre that has shown great success on mobile platforms.
Age of Mobile
A similar title named Return to Empire has already been launched in China, with estimated lifetime gross revenue of around $94 million on iOS alone according to AppMagic data. This game shares some assets and mechanics with the global version of Age of Empires Mobile but maintains distinct game design philosophies and concepts.
TiMi Studio Group GM Brayden Fan mentioned that Age of Empires Mobile will focus more on the Age franchise content and cater to the global player base. A key difference is that player progress will not reset after each season, allowing continuous growth.
TiMi Studio, with a team of over 5,000 staff members across multiple offices, including Shanghai, is leading the development of Age of Empires Mobile in collaboration with World’s Edge.
A Different Experience
Adapting a complex RTS game like Age of Empires for mobile presents unique challenges. Producer Robin Xin highlighted the need for a new experience tailored to the mobile platform, emphasizing simplified controls and interface.
Age of Empires Mobile will feature simulated war strategy gameplay, blending RTS elements with fast combat, base building, social competition, and historical heroes. The game’s controls are optimized for mobile devices, focusing on strategic planning and reducing the complexity of unit control.
The multiplayer modes in Age of Empires Mobile, particularly the epic siege wars, contribute to its unique gameplay experience. The game will support massive battles involving thousands of players on a single screen, offering a nearly MMO-like environment.
With over a million pre-registrations and beta testing underway in select regions, the global release of Age of Empires Mobile is scheduled for later this year, with an expected launch date of August 19th, 2024, as indicated on the App Store page.
