Current Situation on Aoe4 and Aoe2

[kw1k000000]

Yeah, we have Nilli to thank for the lack of it.

finally we agree on something

 

[SuperskinnyBLS]

Yeah, we have Nilli to thank for the lack of it.

Don't go too hard on him, he is busy trying to get into top64 of aoe 2.

 

[z3us]

Don't go too hard on him, he is busy trying to get into top64 of aoe 2.

Why is an aoe4 player trying to get into top 64 of aoe2???

 

[Huehuecoyotl22]

Yeah, we have Nilli to thank for the lack of it.

https://twitter.com/Nili_AoE/status/1463109530456367110

AoE Tournament Coordinator Nili" speaking: Are you planning an AoE2 tournament in the first half of 2022? The Age of Empires team is still looking to partner with events so please DM me with details if you'd be interested in working with us. Discord: Nili_AoE#7781

It is not about Nili. But tournament organisers for both AoE 2 and AoE 4 have to work together, to not have A tier and S tier tournaments of both games overlap too much.
I know far from everything going on behind the scenes and can say even less than I know, but I expect that a lot of people already applied and I would be surprised if we won't get 2-3 S tier AoE 2 events in the first half of 2022.
Maybe it will be 60-70 % S tier AoE 4 and only 30-40 % S tier AoE 2, but it surely won't be 0 % AoE 2.

 

Yeah, we have Nilli to thank for the lack of it.

Spreading misinformation due to not giving any proofs of what you say doesn't make it better. Hope you are aware of that.

 

[oozkan]

Spreading misinformation due to not giving any proofs of what you say doesn't make it better. Hope you are aware of that.

NiliDefender.

How do you spend your day bro? Searching for Nili keyword on AoeZone, refreshing all day to answer every bad comment?

If I were Nili I would be worried, I hope you are not spying his bedroom at night...

Don't go too hard on him, he is busy trying to get into top64 of aoe 2.

This time you are wrong bro, he plays AOE4 mostly, last time I see him playing AOE2 was KOTD qualifiers.

 

NiliDefender.

How do you spend your day bro? Searching for Nili keyword on AoeZone, refreshing all day to answer every bad comment?

If I were I would be worried, I hope you are not spying his bedroom at night...

Certainly not. I'm just tired of guys abusing this forum as their dumping ground for their negative bullshit.

 

[Snizl]

Do we know for sure that these steam numbers include people who got the game through game pass? Cause you can only buy game pass through the Microsoft store, right?

If the current numbers on Steam really do include game pass subscriptions, then that really does not bode well for AoE4 because then I'd expect the numbers to drop even more after the game pass deal finishes...
But again I don't know if that's case.

Sorry if I phrased it incorrectly, but you misunderstood me.

My point is AoE4 is free on game pass, while AoE2 at release was not. So a lot of players interested in the game will not show up on the steam charts because they are playing on game pass. So I expect the amount of players that do not show up on that chart to be higher for AoE4 than AoE2.
However it can also be assumed that from those game pass players a bigger percentage left the game early than the people on steam, because the steam people had to pay 60$, while the game pass people had to invest nothing.

Either way another confounding factor, that makes it difficult to interpret the stats.

 

[Progeusz]

It is not about Nili. But tournament organisers for both AoE 2 and AoE 4 have to work together, to not have A tier and S tier tournaments of both games overlap too much.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the only announced tournaments the one upcoming $20k this year for AoE 4 and next Battle of Africa sometime in 2022 for AoE 2? We don't know of any other tournament being in the works. Worries about overlap seem preemptive when each game only has one tournament planned...

Yes, something might be going on behind the scenes but the point is, people want a roadmap.

 

[Rorarimbo]

EGC just announced another 20.000 USD event for Jannuary and a bunch of other smaller things for Dec/Jan. It is called Winter tournament. I have heard someone say that EGS is planning 4 big events for AoE4 in 2022. I would not be surprise we get full set of seasons.

 

[longinator]

Winter Championship

Winter Championship is an Age of Empires IV 1v1 tournament hosted by Elite Gaming Channel.

liquipedia.net

https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/Winter_Series/1 (1-3, $7k in total)

 

[kw1k000000]

Assuming T90 Hidden Cup and Memb KotD5 and BoA3 (doubtful for TG event) do happen, still who is going to fill the big void left by Redbull events & NAC

 

[TopperHarley]

Assuming T90 Hidden Cup and Memb KotD5 and BoA3 (doubtful for TG event) do happen, still who is going to fill the big void left by Redbull events & NAC

Has T90 mentioned that Hidden cup will happen despite FB move? Because i cant see Microsoft putting in the money when T90 literally lost most of his viewership

Dont get me wrong, hopefully it will happen, but maybe needs another big sponsor?

 

[kw1k000000]

Has T90 mentioned that Hidden cup will happen despite FB move? Because i cant see Microsoft putting in the money when T90 literally lost most of his viewership

Dont get me wrong, hopefully it will happen, but maybe needs another big sponsor?

Then it's even a bigger void, at this point only Memb seems committed to KotD5 but what kind of prize pool he would be able to put together.

 

[SuperskinnyBLS]

Has T90 mentioned that Hidden cup will happen despite FB move? Because i cant see Microsoft putting in the money when T90 literally lost most of his viewership

Dont get me wrong, hopefully it will happen, but maybe needs another big sponsor?

T90 still mostly streams Aoe2 , he hasn't betrayed the community. Numbers are still good on Youtube.

 

[SouFire]

While anyone can notice the huge decrement of players and viewers of the new game, the damage on aoe2 was already done, the sponsor of kotd4 made a post not so long ago that he might regret for putting the money for kotd4 given the circumstances, cause he is not doing it for memb or for the top players but for the game and the community, so for now it is unsure if he will be willing to sponsor another event.

Some players made their announcement of stop playing aoe2 and some others of fully playing aoe4, few of them said they will keep content for both games but that is yet to see, genesis apparently has an agenda full until half of the next year so we will be missing the top activity for quite some time.

About genesis i noticed quite an overreaction around and anybody is free to think whatever they want, but their budget certainly is not going to last forever if all their audience is based on the viewers of the top players/streamers respectively from aoe2 and sc2, cause the game by itself is losing ground at an alarming rate, last time i checked it had the same numbers of players than fallout4 a SP game released 6 years ago.

I am curious how t90 is going to host another big event if basically the big portion of the price pool was based on subscriptions, well that is something that we don't know and will have to wait to know about it.

 

[z3us]

I am curious how t90 is going to host another big event if basically the big portion of the price pool was based on subscriptions, well that is something that we don't know and will have to wait to know about it.

Speculation: T90's deal with FB involves sponsoring tournaments.

 

[Hunyadi_]

Last night I started unfollowing a bunch of streamers including (most notably) Hera and Nili. It saddens me but at the same time I have 0 interest in AoE4 and if that's all they're streaming, well we have gone in different directions then.

Guess it's time for a new crop of AoE2 streamers and personalities to rise up and carry the torch.

 

[kw1k000000]

Last night I started unfollowing a bunch of streamers including (most notably) Hera and Nili. It saddens me but at the same time I have 0 interest in AoE4 and if that's all they're streaming, well we have gone in different directions then.

Guess it's time for a new crop of AoE2 streamers and personalities to rise up and carry the torch.

In 2 days we will have the final stage of KotD4 and most of them have been streaming aoe4 (some even did it during the weekend barring when they were playing their KoTD4 games).

I wish them well on their new journey but I can't put myself to root for these guys anymore.

 

[Lightysword]

Last night I started unfollowing a bunch of streamers including (most notably) Hera and Nili. It saddens me but at the same time I have 0 interest in AoE4 and if that's all they're streaming, well we have gone in different directions then.

Guess it's time for a new crop of AoE2 streamers and personalities to rise up and carry the torch.

You can do what you want obviously but Hera did stream quite some AOE 2 lately, including some KOTD cast and ladder games.

 

[Liamsmalley7]

Even now, the playerbase in Aoe4 and Aoe2: DE is fairly similar.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Steam Charts

An ongoing analysis of Steam's player numbers, seeing what's been played the most.

steamcharts.com

Age of Empires IV - Steam Charts

An ongoing analysis of Steam's player numbers, seeing what's been played the most.

steamcharts.com

Aoe4 has barely been out for a month. I'd say wait another month or two and the numbers will be practically equal. Some more time after that and Aoe2 will be back on top, certainly by the summer or maybe even by normal Hidden Cup times. Don't freak out acting like all is lost and our game is dead, just a bit of patience is needed. The game survived the "Dark Ages" of late 2000s and it survived post-War is Coming. It will survive this as well.

I have tried to give Aoe4 an honest chance but I just can't get into it. It doesn't seem to be designed with "esports" in mind and it's graphically/aesthetically quite off-putting.

Don't get angry at guys like Hera. He's doing what he thinks is best for his channel and besides, he has streamed plenty of Aoe2 recently. Don't really see the point in unfollowing them. Just be patient guys.

 

[AmazonButterfly]

Good point!
I myself think it's mostly because Microsoft marketed AoE4 a loooot more aggressively than DE2, which means a lot of people who don't actually like RTS games ended up buying it cause they saw it everywhere.

I think Fall is implying the decline was sharper in AoE4 cause the game is just not good enough and maybe he's right, or maybe its a combination of all these factors...We just don't know.

I think at this point, so early after AoE4's release, whatever conclusion we come to will always be informed by our own biases. We just don't have enough data to make an educated guess in my opinion.

The marketing is indeed "aggressive".
One of my friends who usually play hardcore FPS like Arma invite me to buy AOE4 and play together, because he saw several articles saying it's the final hope of RTS or even PC gaming.

 

[AmazonButterfly]

Its having a lot of impact

View attachment 196714

as a former COH player, I'm used to those stuff... it's just typical Relic...

tons of random and pointless patches & changes, always bugged mechanism, non-exisitent balance..

disclaimer: I did not buy AOE4 so all my comment is toward relic but not the game

 

[c3mbre]

Age of Empires IV Vs Age of Empires II (HD +DE) last 7 days

 

Age of Empires IV Vs Age of Empires II (HD +DE) last 7 days

View attachment 196735

When posting these comparisons it's always good to mention that these are:
- only the numbers on Steam
- people in Singleplayer and Multiplayer (we assume, that only around 20-30% of people are playing Multiplayer)
- that these are (average?) concurrent players during a certain moment in time on that platform