New “Age of Empires III” Expansion Pack- “The Asian Dynasties”: A second expansion pack to “Age of Empires III” has been in the works for many months now and was announced just recently. This “Y” pack (as opposed to an “X” for eXpansion pack) is being developed by Big Huge Games of Timonium, Maryland, the developers of “Rise of Nations” and “Rise of Legends”. It will add several Asian civilizations and takes its name from that setting. More details on what is included will be forthcoming over the next several months. I will say that one of the civilizations being considered for inclusion might be a surprise.
We decided to go ahead with a Y pack for several reasons. First, we think there is a business case for it. “Age of Empires III” and “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs” (the first expansion pack) continue to sell well and we expect another expansion will sell and be profitable also. Second, we believe “Age” fans will be ready soon for some meaty new content since “The WarChiefs” is already eight months past release. Third, we believe that releasing more content increases the value to our customers of the entire brand and helps all the components sell. We anticipate it will be a win for everyone. We had considered a second expansion pack for “Age of Empires II” many years ago but felt constrained by our resources at the time and wanted to devote them instead to “Age of Mythology.”
Why Big Huge Games: We have had a good relationship with our friends at Big Huge Games since they popped onto the scene. Microsoft has published all of their games to date, as well as all of ours, and several of us were colleagues together at Microprose in the early 1990’s. They have been avid “Age” players for many years and the “Age” series was part of the inspiration for their first game, “Rise of Nations.” They have demonstrated repeatedly that they are top-flight developers of high-quality real-time strategy games based on historical themes.
It was a major decision for Ensemble to give the go ahead for someone else to create an official “Age of Empires” game but we are very confident that Big Huge Games is going to deliver. We have gone through many reviews of the project as it has moved forward and no hurdles have impeded it for long.
“The Asian Dynasties” expansion is being co-managed by Microsoft Game Studios Publishing and Ensemble Studios. A number of Ensemble staff members are contributing to the project, led by Brian Lemon acting as the external producer. There is a lot of work involved in syncing up the art styles, programming, and game play. We want the Y pack to be a worthy addition to the “Age” series and will remain very actively involved to help reach our shared goals.
“The Asian Dynasties” Status: The game is in regular multiplayer testing now. Many of our in-house expert testers play the game daily, and are working on gameplay and balance issues. Everyone at Ensemble has been invited and encouraged to play it as well. It is still rough in terms of balance and we are at the stage where we uncover big screws frequently in both combat and the economies. Content has a long way to go (parts missing). Overall, however, it is clearly an “Age” game and the design by playing process, which Big Huge Games also endorses, should get it to a good place.
Patch Update: Interest in the next patch is huge thanks to the coming of multiplayer scenarios. We want to get that capability into player hands as soon as we can. Because the next patch is to be Windows Vista compliant and sync up with the coming new expansion pack it has to go through extra test regimes, not just our normal gameplay, hardware, and balance testing. We are working diligently on the patch and will have it to you when it works as you and we expect it to. This patch is an extra big effort.
“Age of Empires III” Board Game Published: The board game should be on store shelves on May 11 or soon thereafter. Look for it in hobby game stores. It should also be available online from these sources: www.brownboxinc.com, www.eaglegames.net, and www.funagain.com. We had several goals for authorizing an official board game. A high quality game based on our PC game would be an excellent way to extend our brand. We have a lot of board game players at Ensemble Studios and we wanted to see a game created that would appeal to them. We thought it would be a cool thing for everyone who works here. An excellent board game sitting on store shelves and being talked about by gamers would assist in spreading awareness of the entire “Age” series.
“Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery” is designed in the “Euro” style with an emphasis on the play rather than the rules. The components are top-notch. We were involved in testing it from almost the start and we think it will be a great addition to the “Age” family. We look forward to seeing reviews and hearing what people think of it.
Four Million Pre-Orders for “Halo 3”?: This amazing number of pre-ordered games has been reported on the site Xbox Evolved, based on conversations with game retailer Gamespot. In comparison, pre-orders for “Halo 2” are reported to have been 1.5 million. Since the game is still months from launch, the number is likely to grow. We hope all of those “Halo 3” players will be interested in trying “Halo Wars” also.
Bruce Shelley