In the recent years, Microsoft made an effort to re-introduce the 90's classic real-time strategy game "Age of Empires" to the modern players. Earlier this month, the company has re-launched the first game in the series, "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition," which can now be purchased through the Windows Store. As the current version of the game is designed exclusively for the Windows 10, some players are hoping to see the "Age of Empires" in other platforms, with some suggesting to bring the game to Steam.
It appears that "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition" will make its way to Steam, although the public may have to wait a while before that happens. In an interview with PCGamesN, the video game's creative director Adam Isgreen confirmed that the "Definitive Edition" could arrive on Steam one day, although the studio is still pretty much focused on improving the game in the Windows platform.
It is noticeable that the Microsoft Studios has no plans in developing a version of the "Age of Empires" for other platforms. Although, Isgreen said that the studio only wants to bring out the "best version of the game." Nevertheless, the "Definite Edition" has only been released recently, and it is probably too early to talk about a cross-platform gameplay until the game is confirmed to have no issues on Windows.
According to KitGuru, the "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition" is compiled as a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) game. With this, players will not be able to find most game files because of their hidden settings, and there is no .exe file. In order to make the game compatible with other platforms such as Steam, the UWP setting must be removed. As of now, the only Windows exclusive titles from Microsoft that are compatible with steam includes "Halo Wars: Definitive Edition" and "Quantum Break."
Isgreen revealed that Microsoft Studios is still focused on the UWP build of the "Age of Empires: Definitive Edition," which means that a Steam-compatible version of the game is not expected to arrive anytime soon. However, the game could end up in Steam in the future when the required functionalities to do so have been met by the studio.
