I'm one of the biggest AoE2 fans out there-- it's my favorite game of all time and I've played <i>thousands</i> of games of it. I also loved the original AoE and the related Age of Mythology.<p>In spite of that, I feel this is nothing to be excited about.<p>Age of Empires 1 & 2 were special because they were designed by a special team at a company called Ensemble Studios, which was bought by Microsoft and sadly shut down in 2009. None of that team remain with Microsoft.<p>AoE4 is being developed by Relic, a company with no track record to speak of.* It has <i>nothing</i> in common with the game many of us know and love other than the title. It is <i>extremely</i> unlikely to have the depth, nuance, replayability, and well-thought out design that made the original franchise a hit.<p>In place of those things, it's likely to have shockingly poor multiplayer integration through the Windows store as Microsoft inevitably rejects Steam integration, and god knows what other modern problems like microtransactions.<p>Frankly I feel there's very little to be hyped about here.<p>And god do I ever hope I'm wrong.<p>*They made some decent games 15 years ago. How many of those designers and developers are still with the company now? How many will be working on AoE4? And were their best games good enough that they're still so beloved that they merit re-releases, new expansions, and definitive editions 20 years later? I don't think so...