How to download and play Age of Empires 4 on Windows 10

Age of Empires 4 is the most recent title from the popular series, and it brought the real-time strategy genre to a new level of graphics and gameplay.

Note from the start that it will set you in the middle of historical battles that shaped the world as we know it but this time, you can change the balance of the war.

If strategy is your preferred genre, this is the next title to enjoy right now. We have prepared all the instructions on how to download and play Age of Empires 4 but let’s start with the game’s requirements.

What are the Age of Empires 4 system requirements?

To avoid any problems running Age of Empires 4, you have to comply with the game’s minimum system requirements.

Being a strategy game, you won’t need any fancy graphics cards, but it won’t hurt at all to have a better configuration for your PC.

System requirements	Minimum	Recommended
OS:	Windows 10 64bit or Windows 11 64bit	Windows 10 64bit or Windows 11 64bit
CPU:	Intel Core i5-6300U or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G | CPU with AVX support	3.6 GHz 6-core (Intel i5) or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 | CPU with AVX support
Memory:	8 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
Graphics:	Intel HD 520 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 11	Nvidia GeForce 970 GPU or AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU with 4GB of VRAM
DirectX:	Version 12	Version 12
Storage:	50 GB available space	50 GB available space

If you don’t know what is the configuration of your PC you can use the About your PC option in Windows 10 or give a try to a dedicated tool to find your PC specifications.

There is also the choice to visit Can You RUN it and after you download a small app, it will check your system configuration with the game requirements automatically.

Now that you know if you can play the game, we can go over on how to download and play Age of Empires 4.

We also need to specify that getting and running Age of Empires 4 is identical on Windows 10 and Windows 11 so if you upgraded, you will only experience minor graphics differences.

How can I download and play Age of Empires 4?

1. Use a Game Pass

1. Go to the dedicated Age of Empires 4 website and click on the Play with Game Pass for PC button.
2. If you don’t have a Game Pass, you are offered to join for a minimum fee but keep in mind that there will be a monthly subscription to pay afterwards.
3. In the next window, click on the Join button.
4. Now, click the Next button.
5. Enter the payment data and go through the process to get a Game Pass subscription.
6. If you don’t have the Xbox app yet, go back to the website and hit the Download the app button.
7. Install the app, make sure you log in with the account you used for Game Pass, then click on Age of Empires 4.
8. Next, hit the Buy button. You will have a special offer if you have a Game Pass account.
9. In the next window, pick a way to pay, complete the data form, then hit Next. The game will be added to your account.
10. After you buy the game, it will install, and you can hit Play in your library.

The whole process is a lot more simple if you already have a Game Pass subscription. Basically, you can pick it up from step 7, search for Age of Empires 4 in the Xbox store and buy it from there.

2. Get Age of Empires 4 using the Steam app

1. Open the Steam app and click on the Store button.
2. Type age of empires 4 in the search box and click on the game from the results.
3. Select your option and click on the Add to Cart button.
4. Click on the Purchase for myself button. You can also buy it as a gift for someone and in that case, click on the second button.
5. Select the payment method, complete the form with the necessary data, and hit Continue.
6. After you review the data and complete the purchase, te game will start downloading and installing. Go to your Library tab, click on Age of Empires 4, and click the Play button.

3. Get Age of Empires 4 from Microsoft Store

1. Click the Start button, type store and click on Microsoft Store from the results.
2. After the app starts, click the Search option from the top right corner.
3. Type age of empires 4 in the search field and select the version you want to get.
4. In the next window, click the Buy button.
5. Log into your Microsoft account, pick the payment option and after you fill in the form, click Next.
6. After you finish the purchase procedure, you will get a download link for the game. Clicking on the file will start the installation process. If you selected the option to create a shortcut on the desktop, clicking it will launch the game.

As you probably know, Microsoft Store has changed a little bit in Windows 11 but the process is identical so if you switched to the new OS, you will only see minor graphical differences in the store.

You can also get Age of Empires 4 from other vendors and benefit from some great discounts in the process.

⇒ Get Age of Empires 4 from Kinguin

Feel free to check some other cool Age of Empires 4 offers available on G2A, GreenManGaming, or Amazon.

How can I play Age of Empires 4 on Windows?

Age of Empires 4 didn’t change in terms of gameplay and the principles remained the same. So, if you played the previous version, you will know what you need to do.

If you’re new to the series, the whole game revolves around exploring your surroundings, gathering resources, training military units, and building structures that will lead you to victory.

How do you win in Age of Empires 4?

Obviously, the objective of the game is to grow your empire in military strength, technology, or both and emerge victoriously.

However, there are three possible conditions to win the game against your opponents:

➡ Landmark Victory – Destroy your opponent’s landmarks using your magnificent army.

➡ Sacred Victory – Protect and maintain specific spots on the map.

➡ Wonder Victory – You have a time limit to build the Wonder of your civilization and protect it until the time runs out.

Go through with the Art of War challenges

At the start of the game, you will be brought into a Mission Zero scenario that will teach you all the basics of the mechanics.

You will learn how to gather the four resources of the game (food, wood, gold, and stone), how to produce villagers who will handle the collecting, to construct buildings, and how to produce and command the units on the map.

If you’re new to the game, we recommend starting the Ar of War challenges that will help you practice what you’ve learned in the tutorial.

There are 5 challenges to complete:

• Early Economy – This challenge will be about constructing a Landmark and you will also advance from the Dark Age to the Feudal Age.
• Late Economy – You will learn how a strong economy can influence your advance to the Imperial Age.
• Basic Combat – Use the counter system and the terrain to lead your army to victory.
• Early Siege – Sieging the buildiengs of your enemy is crucial and in this challenge section you will learn about the basic strategy and siege units.
• Late Siege – You will learn about Trebuchets and Bombards and how to distroy an enemy fortress.

Now you are prepared to face your opponents in Age of Empire 4 battles and obtain a crushing victory.

Of course, it’s also very important to study all 8 civilizations within the game because all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Playing with the Roman Empire has a clear advantage when it comes to the economy but the English have a great defense and the Mongols come with awesome mobility.

After you complete the challenges, you can take on the campaigns and even play online against players like yourself.

We hope you will enjoy the game without any issues but if you come across some trouble running the game, we have a great article on how to fix Age of Empires if it’s not loading.

Even more, a lot of users playing this game have reported being unable to change the graphics settings. If you happen to encounter the same issue, modify either the game files, update Windows, or apply a bunch of other tips detailed in our guide.

Have you started playing Age of Empires 4? Tell us all about your experience in the comments section below.