Microsoft's "Era of Empire" series has left many old players with very simple and cultural game memories, standing out from a large number of RTSs with modern war themes and fantasy themes, and establishing a unique game image. However, after experiencing the progress of the picture from 2D to 3D and the continuous filling of content, due to the external environment, the growth of game users has become increasingly weak and the brand influence is not as good as before. Obviously, new ideas and methods must be found to continue to survive.

In view of this, Microsoft Game Studios, in conjunction with Robot Entertainment (which is composed of the main members of Ensemble Studio, the creator of the "Age of Empires" series, and later developed the "Orcs Must Die" series) launched an online real-time strategy game called "Age of Empires Online" on August 16, 2011. It operates with a F2P model with free game and free props. Of course, the traditional process of resource collection, house construction, and external expansion has not changed much.

The picture style is significantly different from previous series

The game uses the same 3D engine as the third generation, but the picture style is obviously cartoonish, including six civilizations of different forms: Greece, Egypt, Persia, Celtic, Babylon and Nordic. In addition to the different architectural appearance and characteristic units, the development and growth of each race is also different, and it has derived a variety of strategies and tactics. Combined with approachable cartoon pictures and more modern character dynamics, the basic experience of the entire game is still quite good.

But this is a free online game after all. In the initial version, free players can only choose three civilizations, and they cannot enjoy a large amount of game content and special modes. These natural designs have greatly dissatisfied the old players in the series. Although the operator later made a lot of concessions and the game evaluation gradually rebounded, they still cannot get rid of the original sin of "free games". In July 2014, the server was closed and the game was offline.