Age of Empires IV Xbox Series vs PC Comparison: Which Platform Is Best

Xbox Game Studios and Relic Entertainment’s Age of Empires IV is now available on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and if you’re wondering how it compares to the existing PC version, read ahead.

The game only offers a single display mode on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, with mostly equivalent graphical settings across both consoles. However, the Xbox Series S does appear to exhibit lower quality shadows in comparison to its more powerful sibling. On PC, it is possible to run Age of Empires IV at max settings and get a better graphical experience over the Xbox Series X|S versions.

In terms of image quality, the Xbox Series X version of Age of Empires IV runs at a native resolution of native 4K (2160p). Meanwhile, the Xbox Series S drops the native resolution all the way down to 1080p.

With regards to performance, both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions of Age of Empires IV target a frame rate of 60 fps and adhere to it for the most part. In terms of load times, the PC version comes out on top followed by the Xbox Series consoles, but only by around 1 second.

On the whole, Age of Empires IV is well optimized on Xbox Series X, making it the definitive way to to play the game on consoles. The significant drop in resolution on the Xbox Series S leaves much to be desired, however.

Real-time strategy game Age of Empires IV was developed by Relic Entertainment in collaboration with World’s Edge and published by Xbox Game Studios. The fourth Age of Empires game is currently available on Steam, the Windows Store, and PC Game Pass on October 28, 2021. The game features four single-player campaigns at launch, including The Normans,The Hundred Years War,The Mongol Empire, and The Rise of Moscow.