Microsoft's Age of Empires coming to iOS and Android

Microsoft is expanding its presence on mobiles with new games. The Redmond-based company has teamed up with Japanese developer KLab to bring its strategy game franchise Age of Empires to iOS and Android devices, according to Japan’s Nikkei. The game will reportedly hit iOS and Android by the end of Microsoft’s current fiscal year, which is set to close at the end of June.

How awesome would a mobile version of Age of Empires 2 be?

The company released a statement to Polygon confirming that an Age of Empires game is in the works by KLabs. “Today, KLab Inc. announced a licensing agreement with Microsoft Corp. to develop a mobile version of Microsoft Studio’s Age of Empires franchise, which will be initially developed in English for iOS and Android and launched globally, with plans to release the game in other languages and on Windows Phone in the future. Some reports included incorrect information about additional Xbox Live-based games on iOS and Android but there are no further announcements beyond Age of Empires at this time.”

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While Microsoft hasn’t been entirely absent from the mobile gaming market, its presence has been very limited. It released a port of its Windows Phone game Kinectimals on iOS back in 2011 and then on Android in 2012. The company has also published Twisted Pixel’s Ms Splosion Man on iOS this year. Other than these games, the company has released companion apps for its other products, such as the Xbox SmartGlass app and Halo Waypoint.

It is, however, curious to see the lack of any mention of a Windows Phone version of the game. This can probably be attributed to the low overall marketshare of Windows Phone 8 devices compared to iOS and Android.