Age of Empires 4 is releasing next month on the 28^th of October, but before the full release Microsoft is allowing users to try it out for a weekend as part of a stress test.

Age of Empires 4 will be set in the Middle Ages, and will feature eight civilizations upon release date which are: the English, the Chinese, the Mongols, the Delhi Sultanate, the French, the Abbassid Dynasty, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Russians.

During the test, the English, the Chinese, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Abbasid Dynasty civilizations will be available alongside five different maps.

The stress test will kick off this Friday, September 17 at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK, and run through Monday, September 20 at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK.

The goal is to scale test the servers and systems in preparation for the game’s release, as the game will be released on Game Pass, so everything needs to be stable for the full release. Also the test will not be gated behind an invite. The stress test build will be available in the Xbox Insider Hub app or Steam. Players will be able to participate in the stress test regardless if they are insiders or not.

It a multiplayer focused stress test, but players will be able to play against AI, by creating custom lobbies. Furthermore players who took part in the August closed beta can expect to see changes, some of which include the following: changes to the camera distance allowing for more visibility on-screen. The English and Chinese civilizations were also balanced, and development team also fixed bugs that impacted visuals, audio, economy, and in-game settings.

Age of Empires 4 will be available on PC on the 28th of October 2021, on Steam and Game Pass

Source: VG247