To be completely fair to Relic, Age of Empires 4 is a better game than I was expecting them to make based on their recent (or semi-recent) track record. But if Age of Empires 4 is indeed the next generation of real-time strategy gaming, then I have to say it looks a hell of a lot like the twenty year-old Age of Empires 2. Unlike those failures, Age of Empires 4 has the support of a big franchise name, a big publisher - they don’t get any bigger than Microsoft - and it’s being developed by Relic Entertainment, who are in theory a seasoned RTS studio thanks to their experience with Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. This is technically true, since aside from assorted mediocrities like Grey Goo and Company of Heroes 2 I don’t think anyone has taken a proper big (or at least medium-sized) budget stab at the classic RTS since Blizzard released Starcraft 2 back in 2010.
Sega recently acquired the Angry Birds series for $776 million.“The next generation of real-time strategy gaming!” proclaims the marketing blurb for Age of Empires 4. Other companies that have cut staff this year have included The Molasses Flood, Unity, Ready at Dawn, Take-Two, Xbox, Ubisoft, and more. Relic is just the latest major game developer to see layoffs so far in 2023. Beyond that, the studio has no announced projects. The company's next release is a console edition of Company of Heroes 3, which is out on May 30. In addition to Company of Heroes, Relic worked with Microsoft on Age of Empires IV and also developed multiple Warhammer 40,000 games. Sega acquired Relic and the Company of Heroes franchise out of THQ's bankruptcy auction in 2013 for $26.6 million, beating ZeniMax's bid by $300,000. GameSpot has contacted Sega in an attempt to get more information. The statement went on to say that this decision was "incredibly difficult." Affected employees will receive severance packages and career-transition services.
EITW2tbG7w - Relic Entertainment May 23, 2023 An announcement from Relic Entertainment.
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