Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition ▶ Trailer
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition screenshot 1Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition screenshot 2
StrategyRTSBase BuildingWarMultiplayerMedieval

17,002 playing#96 on Steam by players#96 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 17,410

Peak in the last 7 days: 24,356

Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Steam store

Game description

Celebrating its first year of delighting millions of global players, the award-winning and best-selling strategy franchise continues with Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, putting you at the center of even more epic historical battles that shaped the world.

Basic info

DeveloperWorld's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios
PublisherXbox Game Studios
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateOct 28, 2021
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10 64bit | Windows 11 64bit
ProcessorIntel Core i5-6300U or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G | CPU with AVX support required
Memory8 GB
GraphicsIntel HD 520 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
Storage50 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 387 reviews from the past 1 year

78.4/ 100
Bottom 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (86%)

Metacritic: 81 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

A historical real time strategy game with very different civilizations, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition gets 78.4, ranking 821st of 1447.

👍 Strengths

104 reviews say they enjoy it, from playing the campaigns to relaxed matches against the computer, and some describe it as a game they share with family. 44 find the visuals pleasing, with good looking maps and biomes that are not demanding on hardware. 35 praise its strategic depth, saying each civilization has its own mechanics and plays almost like a different game. Content Volume ranks 308th of 1351, and Multiplayer ranks 324th of 642. Some also like campaigns that teach a bit of history along the way.

👎 Where it falls short

Tech & Support ranks 929th of 1399. 39 reviews report crashes that happen too often, sometimes at critical moments in matches, and some ask for a reconnect option. 26 criticize the balance, saying patches undo unique mechanics and leave large power gaps between civilizations. 19 find it hard to learn at first, with a steep curve and an unskippable opening tutorial. A few also say a recent DLC campaign felt rushed. Pricing & Fairness ranks 1022nd of 1399, and Gameplay ranks 385th of 1396.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“still plays in memory of father, emotional connection to game” · 104 reviews
“gorgeous overall look, maps and biomes pleasant to look at” · 44 reviews
“each civ has unique mechanics and playstyle, strategic depth with economic and tactical choices” · 35 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 43% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.60 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “each civ has unique mechanics and playstyle, strategic depth with economic and tactical choices” · 35 reviews
Negative “AoE3 has superior build diversity and strategic depth compared to AoE4's limited options” · 1 review

Progression 4% · Difficulty 9% · Onboarding 17% · Freedom 3% · Controls & feel 7%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 23% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Story +2.87 · Plot, quests, writing, and the ending
Positive “great storytelling with engaging missions and documentary videos” · 15 reviews
Negative “campaigns lack personal story and character compared to AoE2” · 3 reviews

Characters 0% · World 14%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 19% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +2.11 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “gameplay varies strongly by civilization, hundreds of hours in multiplayer” · 5 reviews
Negative “does not get as much content as it should” · 4 reviews

Variety 10% · Replayability 2%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 25% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.17 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “gorgeous overall look, maps and biomes pleasant to look at” · 44 reviews

Audio 7%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +2.33 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “interested in PvE co-op mode like StarCraft 2 for RTS atmosphere” · 18 reviews
Negative “teammates lock city gates to grief, forcing 1v4 situations in matches” · 4 reviews

Community 7% · Servers & Connection 5%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 27% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.15 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “unique mechanics ruined by balancing, longbowmen work completely differently” · 26 reviews
Positive “all factions perfectly balanced with thoughtful design” · 6 reviews

Anti-cheat 2% · Pricing 10% · Matchmaking 7%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.36 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “random crashes happen far too often, mid-game and during intense matches” · 39 reviews
Positive “donma ve kapanma sorunu çözdüğünü belirtti” · 1 review

Performance 5% · Developer support 20%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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