TiMi and Xbox’s World’s Edge reveal Age of Empires Mobile

TiMi Studio Group and Microsoft’s World’s Edge studio announced Age of Empires Mobile is debuting later this year.

TiMi has had the magic touch when it comes to making mobile games. The Tencent-owned studio in Shenzhen made titles such as Honor of Kings, Arena of Valor, Pokemon Unite and Call of Duty: Mobile, which has had more than 500 million downloads. If you add it all up, TiMi Studio Group has more than a billion downloads.

World’s Edge, an Xbox Games Studio, is responsible for the Age of Empires games and it recently made Age of Empires IV.

During a special broadcast event titled “Age of Empires: New Year, New Age,” the developers provided a sneak peek into the free-to-play mobile version of the historical strategy game.

Age of Empires Mobile, tailored for mobile play, promises a unique experience blending elements from the original PC series and introducing new features to deliver strategic and simulated battles across various modes.

Players in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia can pre-register on the App Store and Google Play to stay informed about play tests and the official launch later this year.

Earnest Yuen, senior director of production at World’s Edge, said in a statement, “We’re excited for even more players around the world to experience the magic of Age of Empires with the upcoming launch of Age of Empires Mobile. Combining the strategy games expertise and rich heritage of World’s Edge with TiMi’s excellence in mobile gaming, we’re building a brand-new way for players around the world to join the Age of Empires universe.”

Age of Empires Mobile will introduce these features:

Classic Gameplay: Retaining the charm of the original PC series with fast combat, base building, and real-time strategy elements.

Multiplayer Mayhem: Engaging multiplayer action, including epic siege battle gameplay that connects global players and sparks rivalries.

Empire-Building: Familiar components like empire-building and strategic battles on a vast, persistent battlefield, alongside 1-on-1 player-versus-player combat.

Legendary Leaders: Build teams with historical and legendary leaders such as King Arthur, Joan of Arc, Julius Caesar, Leonidas I, and the Queen of Sheba, each with unique talents influencing emergent player-versus-player (PvP) and player-versus-environment (PvE) play.

TiMi is collaborating with World’s Edge to ensure the best mobile Age of Empires experience.

“We grew up playing Age of Empires on our PCs and believe we can offer a new but similarly exciting experience for mobile players with Age of Empires Mobile,” said Brayden Fan, a general manager for TiMi Studio Group, in a statement. “Players all over the world can build massive empires, form alliances and fight against each other to prove who is the best.”

Players interested in staying connected with the Age of Empires Mobile community can join on Discord, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. TiMi was founded in 2008 and it has offices in Shenzhen, Los Angeles, Montreal and Seattle.

Brayden Fan, a general manager overseeing Age of Empires Mobile at TiMi Studio Group, headed the team developing Age of Empires Mobile. He started working in video games in 2005 and joined Tencent in 2010, accumulating 19 years of experience. In 2013, he joined Parkour Everyday. In 2016, he became the producer of Kingdom Craft, which is one of the most renowned and popular strategy games in China, operating successfully for eight years.

In an email to GamesBeat, he said, “Age of Empires Mobile has been in full development for three years now, with the team starting in 2021. During this process, our friends at World’s Edge have provided guidance on how to implement classic Age elements and experiences where possible, while giving us insights into the depth of strategy game design and historical accuracy. Their role in the development process has been crucial in ensuring that Age of Empires Mobile is a true member of the Age of Empires family, while providing players with an all-new experience.”

TiMi has more than 5,000 people now. Its teams include TiMi Montreal, with mobile game development teams based in three cities in China – Shenzhen, Chengdu and Shanghai. The team working on Age of Empires Mobile is part of TiMi Shanghai.

I asked how hard it is do to real-time strategy games on mobile.

Fan said, “We consider Age of Empires Mobile to be a brand-new way to experience the Age of Empires series. It’s a simulated strategy game from the Age of Empires universe and combines RTS elements with fast combat, base building, social competition and historical heroes. Many of our team grew up playing this franchise, so we’re focused on making sure we deliver a great, additive title to it. It’s important to recognize that solving any technical challenges for mobile is never easy. You’re balancing quality with performance, which requires great tech and being data-minded with your design decisions.”

Fan added, “We’ve reduced the number of units that players can control for mobile, allowing players to control their own soldiers and generals in one unit. In RTS games, players have quite a lot of decision-making branches per second, but that experience won’t feel the same on mobile, so we put a large part of the combat strategy in the game into the pre-battle planning. Players can create their own troop builds before deploying them to fight their foes.”

And Fan said, “We wanted to retain the ‘micromanaging’ experience of RTS games, so we also allow players to manually unleash their troops’ skills to maximize their combat benefits.”