Age of Empires 4 more civilizations

Age of Empires 4 is getting two brand-new civilizations. The Malian and Ottoman civilizations were revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live, adding additional layers to the popular game.

As shown during ONL, the Malian civilization will focus on wit and strategy to out-manouvre the enemy. As for the Ottoman civilization, it'll have access to powerful weaponry, including fortress wall-destroying cannons.

Age of Empires IV - Gamescom 2022

The new civilizations arrive on October 25 and join the English, Chinese, Mongol, Delhi Sultanate, French, Abbasid Dynasty, Holy Roman Empire, and Rus civilizations already in the game, bringing the total up to 10. The original release also had four single-player campaigns available at launch.

Age of Empires 4 was released at the end of last year, earning a nomination for IGN's Best Strategy Game of 2021. Our review praised it as an enjoyable RTS throwback, but noted that it was also very safe.

Elsewhere, Gamescom Opening Night Live also included new trailers for Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Island 2, and much more. You can find our full recap here.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

What you need to know

• Age of Empires 4 first launched back in October 2021. 
• During Opening Night Live at Gamescom, two new civilizations for the game were revealed: The Malians and the Ottomans.
• These two civilizations will be entirely free and are scheduled to arrive on Oct. 25, 2022.

At Opening Night Live at Gamescom, we learned that two new civilizations are on the way to Age of Empires 4.

The Ottomans and the Malians are coming to Age of Empires 4 and will be entirely free. Both civilizations are being added in an update on Oct. 25, 2022. You can check out the announcement trailer for the Ottomans and Malians update below:

Naturally, the Ottomans bring heavy firepower to the battlefield through their cannons. Meanwhile, the Malians can use the terrain and foliage to hide their troops, focusing on flanking and using guerrilla warfare to engage numerically superior enemies.

In our review of Age of Empires 4, we found that it was a polished experience, even if it wasn't a complete revolution of the genre.

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.