
In case you missed the big announcement, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is coming to Xbox Series X and S early next year on January 31, 2023. It'll also be joined by Age of Empires IV at a later date.
Now, in case you're wondering about the control method in these console versions, it seems they'll support both keyboard & mouse and Xbox controllers. In the announcement post on Xbox Wire, World's Edge director of customer voice Emma Bridle confirmed both inputs would be available.
This has been a "massive task" and one that had to be approached carefully and thoughtfully. There'll even be a new tutorial focused specifically on controller input. There'll also be the option for keyboard and mouse controls.
"We knew that bringing the complexity of RTS to Xbox consoles was a massive task and one we had to approach carefully and thoughtfully. The team has been working hard to bring an experience that not only feels great using a controller, but also teaches players how to play on Xbox. A new tutorial designed specifically for controller input paired with a new user experience for console will help players get started."
"...For those players who are loyal to keyboard and mouse, we’ve ensured that those inputs are supported in the console version. We also considered the functionality Xbox players have come to expect from their games and so the game will include optional crossplay between platforms, allowing you to play with your friends on Xbox and on PC."
What control method will you be using to play the Age of Empires series on Xbox? Leave a comment below.
[source news.xbox.com]
Comments 10
Man i love the latest installment. Especially with the mod to have a bigger army (600)
Awesome that keyboard and mouse are supported on the consoles, for both games, gonna play these to death...
This is amazing!
Having just (almost) finished the C&C achievements due to the server closure, I probably will be going with the keyboard and mouse. The controls aren't bad in those three C&C games but just a bit convoluted.
Xbox should offer more support for kb and mouse, imo. Hell, they should offer Xbox branded keyboard and mouse peripherals.
@Tharsman Well there's 121 games that already support K&M on Xbox, and it's expanding as new games support it and it's patched in. Still a bigger emphasis would be nice. Particularly when games are already on PC with those controls.
For me the biggest Keyboard improvement would be allowing you to connect standard bluetooth keyboards which isn't supported despite the hardware being there.
@Tharsman I believe they actually do... kind of? There was a KB+M specifically made to take advantage of the Xbox, but it's stupidly expensive IMHO. Like 200$+
Super excited, I'll love to see how they're going to handle the controls through a video I'm sure we'll see at some point.
@Moist_Raine I seen it; if I recall it’s third party and has some sort of features to make it pretend it’s a standard controller.
Also I’m thinking some sort of official kb support that shows in the store entry the kind of controls that are supported, same way switch games tend to show if they work with single joycons or only with pro controller settup.
If MS can optimize controller support for this and make it work well, it would be awesome if Blizzard could take note and port Starcraft II.
Now we just need xCloud to support mouse/keyboard and it will be a dream!
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