[Update]: The long wait is finally over - Age of Empires IV has now been unleashed!

After spending a fair few years in development, Age of Empires IV will be finally be launching onto PC this October 28, 2021. Once it arrives it'll bring with it eight playable civilizations, four unique singleplayer campaigns, as well as a plethora of gameplay improvements and quality of life features to really make it stand out from its predecessors.

Rather than babble on, allow me to share with you the recently posted (and rather lengthy) developer preview showing off a proper multiplayer match between the Holy Roman Empire and Rus factions. Have a gander, it's quite an exciting one:

I think the best compliment I can give Age of Empires IV is that it both looks and feels like a spiritual successor to Age of Empires II. All of the key elements are there, from the way you build up your base to the way you can actually attack your enemy. So as long as nothing goes terribly wrong on the balance side of things, I have a feeling Age of Empires IV will be a pretty good time.

That said, my previous complaints about the visuals and animations seem to still stand. While the visual style is strong and offers a great deal of clarity even in the middle of combat, I can't help but notice that the actual texture and animation quality is a bit lacking. Sadly at this point it's probably far too late to fix, so if you do decide to grab Age of Empires IV, make sure you're ready to accept a bit of jankiness.

Once Age of Empires IV's ready to launch I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, you can keep an eye on any further developer updates over at the official website.