Microsoft may already be testing Age of Empires 4 for Xbox

A new listing on the Xbox Insider Hub appears to show Microsoft already testing Age of Empires 4 for Xbox. 

As discovered by Aggiornamenti Lumia on Twitter, the new listing for “XIP_CAR_JANUARY_2022” in the Xbox Insider Hub appears to show that Microsoft is already testing Age of Empires 4 on Xbox consoles, since “CAR,” is likely an abbreviation of Cardinal, which is Microsoft’s internal codename for Age of Empires 4.

Developer World’s Edge has claimed previously that a console port of the game may be in the works, as when speaking to Multiplayer.it creative director, Adam Isgreen stated that “as soon as we’re done managing the launch of the game on PC, we’ll start thinking about how to make it work on consoles.”

It has also been claimed by developers Relic Entertainment and World’s Edge that Age of Empires 4’s “Min Spec” mode is “equivalent to what we would have built for an Xbox 360,” so there’s no question that the much more advanced Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S would be able to power the game.

While performance shouldn’t be a problem, there’s still the question of just how well Age of Empires 4 would control on a console controller. We can only hope that it receives a console port that’s as thoughtful as Microsoft Flight Simulator’s, as that remains a stellar experience on a controller despite traditionally being a PC experience.

There is currently no word on when Age of Empires 4 may release on Xbox consoles, so until Microsoft announces or leaks any more information, we’ll just have to stick to enjoying the PC version.