Welcome back to history! Today is an exciting day for us at Microsoft, as we celebrate the legacy of Age of Empires with today’s release of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition worldwide on Windows 10 PCs.

We created Age of Empires: Definitive Edition as a homage to all Real Time Strategy (RTS) fans and to PC gamers everywhere. The Definitive Edition brings back the original Age of Empires and its Rise of Rome expansion with 16 civilizations to explore and 10 campaigns to conquer. Fully remastered with beautifully enhanced graphics that support up to 4K resolution, an impressive orchestral soundtrack, brand-new narrative, major gameplay improvements, Xbox Live support for multiplayer and Achievements, the Definitive Edition brings back the original feeling of Age of Empires, but better than ever.

We’re excited to start playing the game with you, and can’t wait to show you what’s next for the award-winning RTS franchise as we work on Definitive Editions of Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III.

As we welcome new and returning players to the Age of Empires franchise, we invite you celebrate launch by joining fellow Age of Empires fans at select Microsoft Store locations for the Age of Empires Tournament to conquer other civilizations and advance your Empire to the next age. Starting March 1, join a bracket style 1-v-1 tournament at 5 p.m. local time, to win prizes and a chance to receive Age of Empires swag. Tournaments are free to join, and players can sign up at smash.gg.

Check out the Age of Empires tournaments at the following Microsoft Store locations:

We’d like to thank everyone who has already experienced the game through our Closed Beta program. We’ve been so appreciative of all the insightful feedback we received, feedback which helped us develop the Definitive Edition as it is being released today.

On behalf of Microsoft Studios, Forgotten Empires and the rest of the Age of Empires team, thank you to the fans for supporting Age throughout the years. Ready to return to history with Age of Empires: Definitive Edition? Visit a Microsoft Store near you or Microsoft.com online to play or participate in the tournament action. Hope to see you soon!