‘Age of Empires 4’ release date: Battle mechanics, playable factions, and more expected to be unveiled during XO19

“Age of Empires 4” will be unveiled in this year’s XO that will take place in London. The fourth entry was notably absent during the recently-concluded Gamescom event, highlighting the persisting lack of information regarding the title.

Add the fact that Xbox general manager Aaron Greenberg said that X019 would be the company’s biggest event this year, both for their internal studios and third-party partners, and the excitement just builds from there. So what can we expect to see from the “Age of Empires 4” demo?

To start, a gameplay reveal will be showcased during the gathering, which will shed some light what playable factions have been included in the sequel. The “Age of Empires 4” trailer saw several armies across history ranging from Native Americans and Aztec Tribes to British Redcoats and Roman Legionnaires, TechRadar reported.

Age of Empires 4 and a cover system

It would be nice to hear confirmation which among them are playable and what sort of advantages each faction brings. Apart from this, it’ll also be interesting to see what Relic has done with the game’s battle mechanics. The studio is responsible for creating titles like “Company of Heroes” so these guys know their RTS well. Among the things that may be included in “Age of Empires 4” is a cover system.

“Company of Heroes 2” integrated this onto its gameplay and proved to be one of the best aspects of the game on account that it provides more tactical depth when a fight breaks out. “Age of Empires 4” could benefit from this to add more immersion into the game. And of course, more flexibility for players to navigate their units.

Age of Empires 4 could use a zoom-in feature to highlight details

Another feature that we’re hoping to see is a zoom-in option that will reveal details about each faction’s army. “Ancestor’s Legacy” and “Total War” are RTS titles that have included this feature, adding further immersion to players, especially during the campaign mode. If “Age of Empires 4” will indeed implement multiple armies across history, then zooming in and inspecting details on each of them will be a welcome option.

Of course, given that Relic and Microsoft haven’t confirmed anything, the things listed above are merely a pipe-dream at this point. Hopefully, the “Age of Empires 4” gameplay reveal will provide extensive information about the game so that people will know what to expect once the sequel hit the shelves. When that will be is anyone’s guess at the moment, but it will likely arrive in the late quarter of 2020 or maybe even in the early months of 2021. Again, nobody knows for sure until XO19 takes place on Nov. 14, PCGamesN reported.