In July 2026, Xbox began a large-scale reboot, and Asha Sharma noted multiple times that the gaming division would focus on key franchises as part of the new strategy. Among them are “Halo”, “Afterlife”, “The Elder Scrolls”, “Doom”, etc., but “Age of Empires” is not included here.
It’s unclear what plans are in store for the Age of Empires series, but World’s Edge suffered massive layoffs this week, with officials saying new installments in the series have been cancelled. Andrew Martz (lead software engineer at the studio) wrote on his social network after the layoffs: “Our next project has been cancelled”. Adam Isgreen (former creative director of the studio) said the studio has great plans: “We have a good plan for what’s coming next – I hope the remaining team can take care of this in the future.”.
In the summer of 2026, Age of Empires developers stated that the series’ total audience exceeded 75 million players (60 million players in February 2025). In addition, some games in the series continue development through the release of DLC and updates. Just this week, the DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Viking Legends – was released.
Let us remind you that World’s Edge Studios merged with Activision Publishing during the new phase of the Xbox reboot.
