Microsoft's efforts to revive the Age of Empires series via a free-to-play online game, Age of Empires Online, have now entered a new stage. The game, which officially launched in August 2011, will no longer add new content but will continue to stay online.
In a post on the game's official website, Microsoft said the reason for the change was due to money:
"... creating top-tier content, as we have been for the last year and a half, is very expensive—too expensive to maintain for long, as it turns out. We can no longer afford to keep creating it. AOEO already has a very large amount of high-quality, hand-crafted entertainment, and adding more is no longer cost-effective.
And what about bug fixes? That may be an issue as well, with the blog admitting, "Some may, in fact, be unfixable. We will be watching carefully in case any critical bugs appear."
The game was being developed by Gas Powered Games. Presumably this change to the status of Age of Empires Online will also mean there will be little to no involvement from that company going forward. However, Gas Powered Games recently launched a teaser website that seems to be promoting a new and upcoming game from the developer, with the countdown clock going down to zero on January 14th.
Source: Age of Empires Online | Image via Microsoft
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