Big Huge Games will take up the task of developing the second expansion pack for the Age of Empires franchise, and the title of this expansion will be known as Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. The finished product will arrive on Windows XP and Vista platforms sometime this fall, giving players the chance to partake in making history with Asian civilizations while introducing a bunch of new gameplay features that the developers hope will breathe new life into this fan favorite franchise.

The game will draw upon the rich and historical influences of Asia while commanding their units and expanding their empire in the Eastern world. No doubt there will be new features thrown into the title, and some of them include new ways of winning and trading, random map styles for a greater level of challenge, remixes of classic Age of Empires game styles, as well as 15 new Asian “wonders”. This new game will ship as a Games for Windows title to provide easier installation, improved reliability and support for key Windows Vista features such as Games Explorer and Parental Controls.

According to Bruce Shelly, lead designer, Ensemble Studios, “The success of ‘Age of Empires III’ has given us the opportunity to expand the gameplay further and offer a fresh perspective through this expansion pack created by Big Huge Games. We’re delighted to have them work on this project with us and certain that they will deliver a great addition to the franchise.” Fans of the RTS genre will definitely have at least one title to look out for before the almighty Starcraft 2 comes and take over the world…

Press Release

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