With Melbourne studio Tantalus Media once again -- alongside World's Edge -- on Age of Empires remaster duties. During the digital Gamescom 2020 happening at the moment we got a fresh look at Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, with word that it'll be out on PC (Steam and Windows and Xbox Game Pass) on October 15.

If you played the critically acclaimed Age of Empires III back in 2005 you'll recall that this more focused Age, err, focused on the European colonisation of the Americas back in 1492 right up until the age of gunpowder. You'll also recall that this was the first game in the series to adopt full-3D graphics, and in terms of updates this crisp new 4K Definitive Edition looks fantastic.

Check it out.



Adam Isgreen, Creative Director at World’s Edge, said the following about the Age of Empires III remaster.

It’s been years since we kicked off the idea of bringing back the Age of Empires series in definitive form, and through each game we’ve listened to our fans, learned, and refined our process to make the best possible true Age experience of each game that we can. In just a few months, long-time Age fans will be able to complete their collection, and those yet to try Age III will be able to experience this groundbreaking game in the best version possible, continuing our mission of setting the standard of what it means to create “definitive” editions of classic games.

For Age III: DE, players can expect 4K graphics, rebuilt 3D assets, modernized UI, cross-play multiplayer, and fully enhanced soundtrack and audio.

In addition to all the new visual stuff the team is also adding a Historical Battles mode and two new civilisations on top of all existing base-game and expansion content -- The Swedes and The Incas.

Isgreen also took time to note that the game's representation of Native American cultures has been updated, with input from tribal consultants.

A key focus of our work at World’s Edge is to authentically represent the cultures and peoples that we depict in our games. In creating Age III: DE, we realized that we weren’t upholding that value as well as we could regarding our Native American cultures. So we set out to fix that, working directly with tribal consultants to respectfully and accurately capture the uniqueness of their peoples, history and cultures. Returning players will find there’s been some changes to the Native American civilizations, and we hope you find them as compelling as we do.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is out October 15 on PC -- covering Steam, Windows 10, and Xbox Game Pass.