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[AstroNut325]

This is the most accurate reaction GIF in quite some time... at least for me in this specific instance!

 

[Amir0x]

*long, troubled deep breath*

I guess I'll never understand the idea behind having an famous IP, that IP being famous for very specific qualities, and then refusing to ever capitalize on the fanbase for said qualities.

 

[Wedge7]

Didnt even get excited. Knew it was mobile/tablet game before I even clicked the thread.

 

[Splint]

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

As soon I saw the "Siege" subtitle I knew it was a Clash of Clans clon.

 

[eznark]

Fuck this shit

 

[Wiktor]

Is this their commitment to PC gaming? Phil?

Yes, turning their biggest PC IP into pathetic Clash of Clans clone and paying Square Enix millions to keep Tomb Raider off the PC.
Thank you Phil Spencer, for Microsoft's "renewed focus on PC gaming".


fuck.

 

[Wiktor]

The 2 million number from 2008 is 3 years after it released. How much more do you think it sold? Come on. We're talking tens of thousands of units most likely since then.

No, I think it was more. But what's important is the years..2008 the DD market was still barely starting. Today if a game like this would have 2 mln sales after 3 years, it could easily reach 4-5 mln in 5-6 years. Popular modern strategy games can easily get 5 years of strong sales if they're properly supported with add-ons and mod support. And every time an expansion pack lauches the sales of original game explode again, especially since every time it happens you can package it all into "Gold" bundles.

T
Bottom line, AoE3 had a lot of hype, it looked incredible visually (easily the best RTS graphics out at the time), it was a sequel to one of the best games ever, and despite all that it still only sold a little over 2 million units.

It also was lowest rated AoE ever, had lots of community hate and insane hardware requirements. And yet it still sold over 2 mln units and made a lot of profit.

The only way AoE IV wouldn't make money and is if they turned it into $100 mln Xbox One exclusive action game

 

[Zoned]

Damnnit.

Fuck you Microsoft.

 

[Wiktor]

Citing the term "AAA" doesn't automatically mean that person is referring to consoles. Why would anyone talk about consoles in a thread about AoE.

If we're applying market standards there's no such thing as "AAA strategy game". Propably even Starcraft 2 didn't have big enough team and budget to hit that spot and AoE IV would cost fraction of what it took to make SC2

 

[ebullientprism]

Even aside from dragging a classic franchise through the mud and making it F2P, whats even the point of a Phone OS exclusive games? Is that even a factor when someone is looking to pick up a phone and decide on the OS?

Making it exclusive is just bizarre. I mean other MS products are available on iOS/Android devices, why are games different?

 

[Wiktor]

Even aside from dragging a classic franchise through the mud and making it F2P, whats even the point of a Phone OS exclusive games? Is that even a factor when someone is looking to pick up a phone and decide on the OS?

Making it exclusive is just bizarre. I mean other MS products are available on iOS/Android devices, why are games different?

Well..making it exclusive would make sense if it was high quality release? Same logic as doing console exclusives. However, this is obvious cheap and low quality cash grab, so it is bizzare they decided to keep it off iOS and Android

 

[AcademicSaucer]

 

[AlexMeloche]

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Well, at least that Age of Empires II HD Edition is as good as the orig... oh. Wait.

 

[Sir_Vival]

Age of Empires Online was perfect even though it bombed.

Sure there was only a few races to choose from but everything else was perfect. Great single player & co-op campaign, skirmish vs players/coms all for free (skirmishes against people/cpu were made free soon after the game launched).

Why that went away ill never know.

There was absolutely no reason to play that instead of AoE2, outside of prettier (though cartoony) graphics. I do not want to play 10 bucks per civilization (or more?)..I have like 15 here, already, with no need to level up my army doing incredibly boring missions.

 

[Coalition-PezRadar]

<3 the classic AoE stuff... this looks kind of like Clash of Clans which I guess I never really tried playing.

I must say being able to work with the Ensemble guys at Robot is one of the most rewarding things ever. These guys are so incredibly skilled and awesome at what they do. I love it.

 

[Wiktor]

<3 the classic AoE stuff... this looks kind of like Clash of Clans which I guess I never really tried playing.

I must say being able to work with the Ensemble guys at Robot is one of the most rewarding things ever. These guys are so incredibly skilled and awesome at what they do. I love it.

I hope that one day Robot will make their own RTS

 

[boltz]

Although I can understand everyone's disappointment at this game not being a full-blown AoE game, the knee jerk reaction to anything mobile is a bit too predictable around here. It could turn out to be a crappy cash grab, but it could turn out to be something decent as well, which isn't impossible for a mobile game.

 

[Wiktor]

Although I can understand everyone's disappointment at this game not being a full-blown AoE game, the knee jerk reaction to anything mobile is a bit too predictable around here. It could turn out to be a crappy cash grab, but it could turn out to be something decent as well, which isn't impossible for a mobile game.

No, but it is impossible for F2P Clash of Clans clone.

 

[NewEraBlood]

All they had to do was keep ensemble intact and have them alternate between AoE for PC and Halo Wars for console (or use the Halo Wars template for a console RTS). There aren't words for how mishandled this IP and it's former studio have been.

 

[Erevador]

I remember playing the demo for Age of Empires on a disk of demos that came with Windows 98. It absolutely blew my mind open, and was the first game I become seriously obsessed with. I have a huge amount of love and nostalgia for this series. I of course bought the game and it's expansion, as well AOE II and The Conquerers. Still the best real time strategy games ever made, for my money.

It is genuinely upsetting to see such a once great IP so horribly abused.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

wow. A Clash of Clans clone...

smh

RIP in pieces Age of Empires

 

[Lilalaunebaer]

Just stop MS. Just.... don´t.

 

[Finalizer]

Saw title, expected mobile. Still feeling disappointed even so.

 

[Garrett 2U]

That looks awful

 

[Drac84]

 

[thekiddfran]

 

[shink]

They should have called it Age of Empires IV: Castle Siege as this is what AoE has become.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

No, I think it was more. But what's important is the years..2008 the DD market was still barely starting. Today if a game like this would have 2 mln sales after 3 years, it could easily reach 4-5 mln in 5-6 years. Popular modern strategy games can easily get 5 years of strong sales if they're properly supported with add-ons and mod support. And every time an expansion pack lauches the sales of original game explode again, especially since every time it happens you can package it all into "Gold" bundles.

You're waaaaaay off base with this:

Today if a game like this would have 2 mln sales after 3 years, it could easily reach 4-5 mln in 5-6 years.

There's no way that happens. You realize much of the top 20 Steam best selling list is like tens of thousands of units? Your number here is way off. It has to be. It's also just referring to unit numbers. Five years later it's going to be selling for a fraction of the price.

It also was lowest rated AoE ever, had lots of community hate and insane hardware requirements. And yet it still sold over 2 mln units and made a lot of profit.

There's no proof at all that it made "a lot of profit". I'd bet money it didn't even break even, or barely did. It was a few years in development and a huge undertaking.

If we're applying market standards there's no such thing as "AAA strategy game". Propably even Starcraft 2 didn't have big enough team and budget to hit that spot and AoE IV would cost fraction of what it took to make SC2

This statement right here is where I know you don't know what you're talking about... or at least the numbers you're stating. Starcraft 2 is 100% a AAA game that cost tens of millions to develop. At least 30-40 million, guaranteed. You're so off base here.

 

[Wiktor]

There's no proof at all that it made "a lot of profit". I'd bet money it didn't even break even, or barely did. It was a few years in development and a huge undertaking.

.

You seem to think PC development works like console one. It doesn't. It didn't have couple hundred people team working on it. And "few years in development"? Pretty much every pc game does that, including the low budget ones. In fact that's one of the reasons why they're cheap to make. A small team works more efficently than a big one. Even if it takes longer to make the game. A 25 person team working for 4 years will do more than 100 person team working for a year.

And you're seriously d underestimating the money those games made. Ensemble was consistently profitable studio for Microsoft, despite having multiple high profile projects being canceled far into development. So what was getting released (which was only AoE) had to be making a lot of profit to offset the costs sunked into canceled projects.

There's no way that happens. You realize much of the top 20 Steam best selling list is like tens of thousands of units? .

And? THose don't count retail sales and most of all, tens of thousands each month keeps on adding and adding.

This statement right here is where I know you don't know what you're talking about... or at least the numbers you're stating. Starcraft 2 is 100% a AAA game that cost tens of millions to develop. At least 30-40 million, guaranteed. You're so off base here.

30-40 mln barely classifies as AAA these days on consoles and Blizzard didn't spend another 30-40mln on marketing, which is what AAA titles do on consoles.

And AoE IV would be a lot cheaper to make than Starcraft 2.

The simple fact is that plenty of studios are making high end PC strategy games and making good money on it. There's zero reason to expect why a game with such huge IP like AoE couldn't do the same thing.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

You seem to think PC development works like console one. It doesn't. It didn't have couple hundred people team working on it. And "few years in development"? Pretty much every pc game does that, including the low budget ones. In fact that's one of the reasons why they're cheap to make. A small team works more efficently than a big one. Even if it takes longer to make the game. A 25 person team working for 4 years will do more than 100 person team working for a year.

And you're seriously d underestimating the money those games made. Ensemble was consistently profitable studio for Microsoft, despite having multiple high profible projects being canceled far into development. So what was getting released (which was only AoE) had to be making a lot of profit to offset the costs sunked into canceled projects.

AoE3 had incredible graphics when it came out, easily the best of the genre and one of the best looking PC games overall. And this is a game with a huge scope, 8 nations, tons of NPCs, animations, units, structures, a full campaign, multi-player. I'm certain it cost tens of millions to develop, at least 20 million.

30-40 mln barely classifies as AAA these days on consoles and Blizzard didn't spend another 30-40mln on marketing, which is what AAA titles do on consoles.

:lol

I'm sorry. This is just silly. 30-40 mln is a AAA game, 100%. I don't even know how to respond to that. That's a conservative estimate on SC2's development budget, by the way. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was at least 50 million. Also, they had a lot of prime time commercials for it here in the U.S. (same with Diablo 3, Blizzard goes HAM with marketing). Marketing was probably another 20-30 million, most likely more than that.

 

[Abounder]

The youtube dislike ratio indeed says it all. At least keep the aesthetic!

 

[Wiktor]

AoE3 had incredible graphics when it came out, easily the best of the genre and one of the best looking PC games overall. And this is a game with a huge scope, 8 nations, tons of NPCs, animations, units, structures, a full campaign, multi-player. I'm certain it cost tens of millions to develop, at least 20 million.

Well..I'm certain it cost a lot less. 20 mln was what they were spending on very high quality FPSes back then. With a lot higher detail level of everything and lavish singleplayer campaigns.

Also..you're seriously underestimating both the popularity of AoE brand and size of modern pc market. Age of Empires II HD, a shoddy remaster of 15 years old title sold 1,2 mln in a year, solely through DD.
There's no way AoE IV wouldn't be able to at least double that.

 

[deleted]

Oh well, Microsoft and it's PC devision is like a social study with us a participants.

Promise one thing and actually do the worst possible thing with a beloved PC IP or studio.

That being said, I wouldn't mind AoE IV based on the online engine.

 

[Garuda1One]

First lucas arts gave us star wars commander then this ?..

 

[Nere]

Got so happy when I read the title =( The Ages series is probably my most played strategy games =(

 

[LeeRoyBrown]

AN EMPIRE BUILDING PRODIGY?

SQUARE

BIG SQUARE

RECTANGLE

God I hate Microsoft as a first party dev.

 

[Hooks]

Wow, I was so excited when I saw the thread title. Extremely disappointed to see the direction my favourite franchise has gone

 

[Vhalyar]

Yeah releasing it on Windows Phone will definitely help it reach those numbers.

Considering how small an investment it is compared to a core game, they have no reason not to try it. And, assuming the worst case scenario (somewhat likely to be fair), they can release it on iOS/Android at their convenience.

 

[Wiktor]

First lucas arts gave us star wars commander then this ?..

It's actually ironic,isn't it? Considering that in previous decade when LucasArts wanted to create quick and cheap SW RTS they just took Age of Empires II engine and gave us actually awesome Galactic Battlegrounds

 

[DryvBy]

Lol, and here was me hoping we'd get a real game.

 

[eznark]

Although I can understand everyone's disappointment at this game not being a full-blown AoE game, the knee jerk reaction to anything mobile is a bit too predictable around here. It could turn out to be a crappy cash grab, but it could turn out to be something decent as well, which isn't impossible for a mobile game.

It's predictable for a reason. It's absolutely impossible for a clash of clans clone to be decent.

 

[Sibylus]

Didnt even get excited. Knew it was mobile/tablet game before I even clicked the thread.

Yup. Nothing to tear me away from AoE II HD... whatever.

 

[lazygecko]

I don't understand why this kind of thing happens, be it Dungeon Keeper or Age of Empires. What could they possibly gain from using the brand names in this way, besides contempt from the old fanbase? It's not like their target demographic gives a shit about the previous games.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

This is available now on the WP store apparently

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/s...le-siege/fe8d8587-59c8-4995-807a-c35766540fe3

 

[Wiktor]

If people want to get even more depressed - I've learned that the folks who made this thing were some of the key staff members behind first Company of Heroes

 

[Altazor]

To lift some people's spirits (?), there's a Rise of Rome Unofficial Patch that makes the game playable in HD and offers different civ balances!

It's not a new AoE but it's the closest thing we'll ever get to an HD port of the first game

 

[Sinatar]

There's no proof at all that it made "a lot of profit". I'd bet money it didn't even break even, or barely did. It was a few years in development and a huge undertaking.

You don't make 2 expansion packs for games that don't make money.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

If people want to get even more depressed - I've learned that the folks who made this thing were some of the key staff members behind first Company of Heroes

Fucking hell. I mean it's nice that mobile is providing a lot of veteran devs with solid work, but it's a shame it has to come down to F2P clones.

Edit: On a semi-related note, Relic's original founder/CEO, Alex Garden, is now in a senior position at Zynga. Funny how these things work out.