Age of Empires 4 Xbox port spotted?

Xbox Game Studios unleashed the fourth entry of the iconic RTS franchise, Age of Empires 4, on 28th October 2021. At the time of release, there was no indication that Age of Empires 4 would eventually make its way to Xbox consoles, as the game was only released on Windows PC.

Now, a rumour has surfaced that Age of Empires 4 will release on Xbox consoles (presumably both Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S) with testing starting soon. Here's what you need to know about Age of Empires 4 on consoles.

Age of Empires 4 on Xbox consoles

First off, the Age of Empires 4 on Xbox consoles news is currently still a rumour, so take the information with a grain of salt.

With the disclaimer out of the way, Twitter user Aggiornamenti Lumia found a new mention of Age of Empires 4 via the Xbox Insider Hub. The person does appear to have a good track record.

The brand-new line of code is: XIP_CAR_JANUARY_2022

What does this line of code mean? Well, CAR is presumably short for Cardinal, the codename for Age of Empires 4. XIP is Xbox Insider Preview.

XIP_CAR_JANUARY_2022 (aka CARDINAL_JANUARY_2022) now available for internal testing in the Xbox insider Hub

— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) January 8, 2022

Keep in mind that Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios do have a track record for porting previously PC-only exclusives to console, for example, Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

While an intricate RTS title is more difficult to port to consoles due to the switch from mouse and keyboard to a controller layout, it is definitely not impossible. 

Judging by the new line of code, we might get an official announcement about Age of Empires 4 on Xbox consoles sooner rather than later.

Age of Empires 4 Xbox release date

At the time of writing, there is no official release date for Age of Empires 4 on Xbox consoles.

According to the leaked information, there's a chance some are already playing Age of Empires 4 on consoles via the Xbox insider Hub or internal testing.

We will endeavour to update our readers once there is an official announcement of the Age of Empires 4 Xbox console port, as well as a release date.

• Read more: Age of Empires 4 build order to hit Feudal Age in 5 minutes

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Featured image courtesy of Xbox Game Studios.