Age of Empires Online

Age of Empires Online is a discontinued multiplayer online real-time strategy game developed by Robot Entertainment and Gas Powered Games that was released on August 16, 2011. Based upon the gameplay of the Age of Empires series, it was originally developed by Robot Entertainment, but on February 24, 2011, Gas Powered Games, took over production. The game was published by Microsoft.

The game initially followed a freemium model, with the base game being free-to-play and premium content such as certain in-game items being purchasable through the game store. Subsequent updates to the game eventually made all aspects of the game completely free-to-play, with content previously purchased via microtransactions made purchasable using earnable in-game currency.

On March 27, 2012, the game premiered on Steam after a major overhaul patch which addressed complaints of an "MMO-like grind" and many other features, along with the debut of the Celtic civilization. On June 15, 2012 the premium content system was changed to offer the option to purchase all past and future content through "Empire points" earned in game, or by purchasing the points directly with real world money.

As of January 3, 2013, Microsoft ceased further development on the game. A Microsoft representative later announced on the forums that on August 22, 2013, the Games for Windows – Live Marketplace would be shut down, leaving the game only accessible by current or former players. In September 2013, it was announced that the game would remain functional until July 1, 2014 when the service would be shut down. The closure was due to the content being too expensive to maintain.