Here's when we can play Age of Empires 4

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A release date has yet to be confirmed, but at least we know it's coming sometime in the fall

The camera tilts downwards on an ancient civilization
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Age of Empires 4 will release on PC and Xbox Game Pass for PC later this year.

While a specific release date has yet to be confirmed, a recent presentation by Relic revealed it's coming this fall – or Q3, for those of you living in the southern hemisphere.

To mark the news, Relic shared a number of new video teasers that give us a hint at what's to come, including naval combat, four historical campaigns – one of which is a Norman campaign – and asymmetric factions. Here, take a peek at this all-new gameplay trailer, where all footage has been captured from the in-game engine:

The presentation also confirmed that a closed beta will be available ahead of release.

We also got a brief snippet of a Chinese civilization too, which shows a Feudal Age battle: 

"The Chinese civilization is immense and resilient, with the potential for tremendous growth and advancement throughout the game," the video description teases. "With a strong focus on expanding their empire, they are capable of developing massive armies with their explosive strength."

Last but not least, we also got a few seconds to admire an advancing naval attack:

In an interview with GamesRadar+ at the end of 2019, creative director Adam Isgreen told us that the reason the team is going all out is because it knows that it has a responsibility not only to portray history accurately, but authentically, which means Age of Empires 4 will invariably end up introducing new areas of history for some of the playerbase. 

"I love that responsibility. I want that responsibility. I want Age of Empires 4 to be a trusted source of history. I think we can do that justice; I would be over the moon if people were like, 'man, this is legit!' because there's been some shaky history in the previous Age of Empires games," Adam Isgreen said at the time. 

"Age of Empires 4 is very much a celebration of all of history – not just the wars and the people, but the technology and spirituality too. We've gone to great lengths to make sure that our history is accurate to the places."

While Age of Empires 4 is still a little ways away, here are 10 games like Age of Empires that will make the wait a little easier. 

Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.