Microsoft Corp. is a personal computer pioneer and one of the world’s top video gaming console manufacturers. However, when it comes to the junction of those two worlds: PC game development, it’s mostly immaterial. This is something the company hopes to change in the near future.Age of Empires IV, the first instalment in 16 years, is the outcome of this effort. It’s a mediaeval strategy game in which players control either the Holy Roman Empire or the Islamic Abbasid caliphate in an attempt to conquer the world. The game, which will be released on Thursday, has received positive reviews. It has an average Metacritic score of 83 percent, putting it in the top ten new PC games.
Although the Xbox and related content account for most of Microsoft’s $15 billion in annual game revenue, Loftis saw an opportunity. “I said, ‘Hey, you know this console thing, it seems like it’s…
