It wouldn’t be surprising if World’s Edge, the team behind the Age of Empires and Age of Mythology series, followed the growing industry trend.

The next installment in the nearly 30-year-old Age of Empires franchise is currently in development and appears to be using Unreal Engine 5. This would mark a shift away from the Essence Engine and Bang Engine used in Age of Empires IV and Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, respectively.

According to several job listings on the Microsoft careers page, Xbox Game Studios is actively working to continue the legacy of the Age of Empires series. Alongside this ongoing development, World’s Edge—the studio responsible for Age of Empires IV and the remasters of the second and third games—currently has two open positions that explicitly mention Unreal Engine experience. The roles, Principal Unreal Engineer and Senior Unreal Engineer, seek candidates skilled in all aspects of Unreal Engine game development with experience in managing external development partners.

While there’s no official word yet on the direction of the franchise, it’s clear that the technical foundation is evolving. Information shared on Reddit indicates that Dennis Crowley joined World’s Edge in 2023, and his LinkedIn profile confirms that he is working on AAA pipeline development for unannounced Unreal Engine 5 titles. From this, we can make an educated guess about when Age of Empires V might arrive.

Development is believed to have started around 2022–2023, as early rumors about the project emerged during that time. The previous installment, Age of Empires IV, was announced in 2017 and released in 2021—suggesting a development cycle of roughly four to five years. That means we could see the new RTS released in 2027, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Age of Empires franchise. Microsoft will likely announce it next year during the 25th anniversary of Xbox.

Source: Insider-Gaming, Indeed, LinkedIn, Dennis Crowley,

More evidence about World's Edge (studio behind Age of Empires franchise and Age of mythology) Is working on new Titles (probably RTS games) under development in Unreal Engine 5 . Source: Linkedin profile of Principal Build Enginer at World's Edge.
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