Age of Empires II: Definite Edition is launching on Xbox consoles and Xbox Game Pass today. This is the first Age of Empires game to be released on Xbox consoles, and the real-time strategy title has been optimized for Xbox controllers. It also supports mouse and keyboard input if you prefer to play that way.

“Our passionate community of Age players have been asking us to bring Age to console – and we’ve been listening. Knowing that bringing this bastion of strategy gaming to Xbox’s around the world would require thought and care, we’ve taken time to produce a version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with controller and console players at the heart of the design,” wrote Emma Bridle, Director of Customer Voice at Microsoft’s World’s Edge studio.

Age of Empires is one of Microsoft’s oldest game franchises, and it’s pretty rare to see strategy games being released on consoles these days. Paradox’s Crusader Kings III was a rare exception last year, and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition should be a nice follow-up for fans of that genre.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition includes a lot of content with 34 single-player campaigns, 7 co-op campaigns, 10 multiplayer modes with 42 civilizations, and 83 maps. The game is also available with Xbox Cloud Gaming, so you can really play it anywhere.

If you previously purchased the PC version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on the Microsoft Store, you’ll get to play this new Xbox version for free. Otherwise, the game costs $19.99 on the Microsoft Store, or you can play it for free with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Microsoft is also planning to release Age of Empires IV, the latest installment in the RTS franchise on Xbox consoles later this year. The game was originally released on PC back in October 2021, and it’s also free to play with PC Game Pass.