Microsoft brings ‘old strategy series’ to life

Microsoft is looking for a lead designer who wants to set up a team that wants to make a new version of a well-known strategy game. It is a new version of a ‘beloved game’. However, Microsoft does not disclose which series it is.

Microsoft appears to have put the advertisement online at the end of April with which it is looking for a new lead designer. The publisher does not reveal much about the game that the lead designer has to work on. He or she has to set up a team in Seattle that will work on a strategy game from a well-known and, according to Microsoft, even beloved strategy series. Microsoft does not announce which series it concerns and also on which platforms the game will appear and when the project must be completed remains unclear.

Microsoft is best known for the Age of Empires series. They were made by Ensemble Studios, which Microsoft bought in 2001, but closed again in 2009. With that, Microsoft seemed to distance itself from the strategy genre. After that, the company experimented with new revenue models. For example, Microsoft released the free-to-play Age of Empires Online, which was created by Robot Entertainment, a studio founded by former Ensemble employees.

Microsoft then released Age of Empires II: HD Edition in 2013, a polished version of the game from 1999 that can be downloaded via Steam. A polished version of Age of Mythology from 2002 will also be released soon via Steam. Microsoft also hopes to release a mobile version of Age of Empires. The Japanese Klab is working on the free-to-play Age of Empires: World Domination, which will be released for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. In recent years, Microsoft has only released Halo Wars on strategic games, the last game that Ensemble delivered.