With just a few weeks to go before Microsoft launches Age of Empires Online, the publisher has announced plans to add even more civilizations to the free-to-play online RTS game. In a press release posted on Gamasutra, Microsoft said will be adding the Celtic and the Pro Persian civilizations to the game before the end of 2011. The new civilizations will be added to the Greek and Egyptian civilizations which will be available for players when Age of Empires Online officially launches on August 16.
The Celtic faction (shown in the above screenshot) are "masters of metalworking and crafting" and will give players access to units such as the Druids, the Celtic Swordsmen and more. The Pro Persian faction will allow players to use units like Persian Archers along with special attack elephants and units referred to as Immortals. In addition to the two new factions Age of Empires Online will also add the Skirmish Hall booster pack before the end of the year. This extra skirmish feature will allow players to battle against up to three AI enemies. It will also allow players to change their starting Age, the battle"s difficulty level, the amount of starting resources and units and more.
Developed by Gas Powered Games, Age of Empires Online will be the first PC exclusive game published by Microsoft in the past several years. While the game will be available as a free-to-play online only title Microsoft will also release a retail boxed version of the game for $20 that will include extra content.