So, I’ve been messing around with Age of Empires lately, and I got to thinking about this whole cross-platform thing. I mean, it’s 2023, why can’t we all just play together, no matter what device we’re using?
First, I started digging around to see what the deal was with Age of Empires IV. Turns out, it does have some cross-play stuff going on. If you’re using your Xbox account on your PC, you can play with folks who are on Steam. That’s pretty cool, right? They just recently made that happen, so it’s still kinda fresh. I think it’s a good sign that they’re moving in that direction.
So, I decided to try it out myself. I have it on my PC through the Windows Store, and I know some friends who play it on Steam. We jumped into a game together, and guess what? It actually worked! We were all able to join the same game and play without any issues. I gotta say, it was pretty seamless. I launched the game from my library. It was kind of a big deal for us, because we’ve been wanting to play together for a while, but the whole platform thing was getting in the way.
Then I got to thinking about the older Age of Empires games. I know they’ve been releasing those “Definitive Edition” versions, and I was curious if they had any cross-play action. I did some more digging, and from what I can tell, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Some folks were saying that if you buy the Definitive Edition on Steam or the Windows Store, you might be able to play with people on other platforms, but it’s not super clear.
Honestly, it would be awesome if they could just make all the Age of Empires games fully cross-platform. I mean, it’s all about bringing people together to play, right? And I know there are some differences between playing on a console and a PC, especially with a mouse and keyboard versus a controller. I’m sure some of the hardcore players might have opinions about that. But for the average person who just wants to have fun with their friends, I think it would be a huge win.
Anyway, that’s my little adventure into the world of Age of Empires cross-platform play. It’s a work in progress, but I’m hopeful that things will keep improving. It’s all about building a strong gaming community, and letting friends play together no matter what platform they’re on seems like a pretty good way to do that. I just hope the developers keep that in mind as they continue to update and release new games.
- Launch Age of Empires IV
- Click “Multiplayer”
- Click “Host Game”
- Invite friends from different platform accounts
- Start the game
Key Takeaways
Cross-play is a thing in Age of Empires IV, at least between Xbox accounts on PC and Steam, and it works pretty well in my experience. Still hoping for more cross-play in the future, though!
