TITLE
“The least-worst idea we had”—The creation of the Age of Empires empire
AUTHOR
Richard Moss
PUBLICATION
Ars Technica
YEAR
2018
ARTICLE TYPE
Article
FROM THE ARTICLE
Not much about Age of Empires isn’t epic.Over the last 20 years, these epoch-spanning games have starred more than 50 historical civilizations, sales have surpassed more than 20 million units, and a core fanbase of hundreds of thousands has put hours upon hours into playing one series entry or another on a weekly basis. Age of Empires is one of the most influential strategy games of all time. And far from fading into obscurity, as history is wont to do, Empires is now squarely back in the (games-playing) public consciousness.
With a new Age game in development and a “definitive edition” reboot of the original just around the corner—and given our recent foray into the evolution of the entire real-time strategy genre—we thought it’d be interesting to dig into the history of this RTS series. After all, RTS games like Age have introduced millions of impressionable youths to the delights of… well, history.
I spoke to several of the two dozen or so people who worked on the original Age of Empires about how it was made. I asked them to reflect on the series’ triumphs, successes, failures, and legacy. This is a compressed retelling of their many stories, focusing on the early days—the building of the foundations that are so central to both the Age story and each of the Age games—but spanning the full breadth of the series’ life.
COMPANIES MENTIONED
Ensemble Studios
GAMES MENTIONED
Age of Empires
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Age of Empires III
Age of Mythology
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Rick Goodman
Tony Goodman
Stuart Moulder
Matt Pritchard
Bruce Shelley
Brian Sullivan