Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition

Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition — medieval strategy back in full force

Age of Empires IV is a historical real-time strategy by World's Edge and Relic Entertainment, published by Xbox Game Studios. It launched on October 28, 2021 and brought the legendary series back to life: large-scale medieval battles, castle sieges, deep economy and dozens of historical civilizations. The Anniversary Edition is that same full game, but with the entire first-year update bundle included, so you get the most complete version right away without buying anything extra.

What Age of Empires IV is about

This is the classic "Age" experience in a modern shell: build your base, grow the economy, advance through four ages and lead armies into battle. The game has four separate campaigns with 35 missions spanning nearly 500 years of history — from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance. You'll relive the Hundred Years' War, the Mongol conquests, the rise of the Rus and the Delhi Sultanate. The campaigns blend documentary-style footage with gameplay, so it doubles as a small history lesson.

What the Anniversary Edition added

The anniversary update arrived for the game's first birthday and noticeably expanded the content. The highlights:

• Two new civilizations — the Ottomans and the Malians — each with a unique playstyle, units and architecture. The roster grew to 12 civilizations: from England and France to China, the Abbasid Dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate, the Rus, the Mongols and the Holy Roman Empire.
• New maps for multiplayer and single-player skirmishes.
• A masteries system, new challenges, taunts and cheats for custom games.
• Extra in-game updates and additional interface languages.

All of this is already included — you don't need to buy the first-year update separately.

Anniversary Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition — which to pick

This listing offers two options, and both are the complete game; the only difference is the bonuses:

• Anniversary Edition — the full game with all anniversary content. If you want the civilizations, campaigns and multiplayer, this is more than enough.
• Digital Deluxe Edition — the same game plus digital bonuses: the official Age of Empires IV soundtrack, a Unit Counters Chart, a Craig Mullins art compilation, and exclusive in-game cosmetics — a Coat of Arms, a player profile portrait and a Monument for your town. These are cosmetic extras and don't affect balance or gameplay.

Note: additional story DLC expansions (such as later paid campaigns) are not part of Digital Deluxe and are sold separately — Deluxe only adds the bonus pack described above.

How we deliver the game — it's a Steam gift

We send Age of Empires IV as a Steam Gift through the supplier's bot, straight to your account. The flow is simple: at checkout you provide a Steam friend invite link and your account region. The bot adds itself as your friend, sends the gift, and automatically removes itself after delivery — you don't have to accept the friend request manually. Delivery usually takes a couple of minutes after checkout. Steam Guard is not required for this.

The gift region is the key condition

Steam will accept the gift only if your account region matches the gift region. If the regions differ, the gift simply won't apply. So enter your Steam account's real region honestly at checkout. And one more Steam rule: the game must not already be in your library — you can't accept a gift for a copy you already own. No prior activity or other games on the account are required.

Platform and system requirements

Age of Empires IV runs on Windows PC via Steam. It's reasonably well optimized and plays even on mid-range setups, while modern hardware holds a steady framerate during massive battles. Once you accept the gift, the game lands in your Steam library like any purchased copy — you can reinstall it, play the campaigns and go online.

Similar games

If historical strategy is your thing, check out other titles in the genre and from the same teams: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — the reimagined series classic, Age of Mythology: Retold — the mythological branch of the franchise, and Company of Heroes 3 — a tactical RTS by Relic, the team behind AoE IV's combat.

🔗 From the same universe

On the same topic we also have: Age of Empires IV, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.