Age Of Empires Online Stops Adding Content

Age of Empires Online, the free-to-play MMO based on the real-time strategy series, won't be adding any new content. Developer Gas Powered Games says that it's too expensive to continue building up the game.

In AoE Online, players take control of a historical civilization. They construct buildings, engage in trade, and build up an army. Players can then test their strategy skills in quests, which usually center on defeating an A.I. opponent. The game also supported ranked and unranked PvP matches.

AoE Online was created by Robot Entertainment. Robot was made up of former members of Ensemble Studios, the developer of the Age of Empire series. Gas Powered took over development in February 2011.

Gas Powered Games said in a blog post on the game's site that no more features will be introduced to the game. There's a "small amount of content" being released in the coming weeks but that doesn't include a new civilization. The six current civilizations (Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Celts, Babylonians, Norse) are the only ones that players will be able to choose from.

"Why no more content? Because creating top-tier content, as we have been for the last year and a half, is very expensive—too expensive to maintain for long, as it turns out," said Gas Powered. "We can no longer afford to keep creating it. AOEO already has a very large amount of high-quality, hand-crafted entertainment, and adding more is no longer cost-effective."

The developer stressed that they plan to keep supporting the game, though. They'll provide aid to customers having any difficulties. Furthermore, they'll attempt to fix any remaining bugs or balance issues. They stress, though, that these fixes might come slowly. In fact, some of the bugs might never be addressed.

All of the current game content will remain. If players have purchased any premium content, they'll still have access to it. Furthermore, the game will still hold special events such as community challenges and PvP tournaments.