Age of Empires
Age of Empires is a series of historical real-time strategy video games, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The first title of the series was "Age of Empires", released in 1997. Seven titles and three spin-offs have been released.
Real-time strategy
"Total Annihilation", released by Cavedog Entertainment in 1997, introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement. It featured a streamlined interface that would influence many RTS games in later years. "Age of Empires", released by Ensemble Studios in 1997 tried to put a game in a slower pace, combining elements of "Civilization" with the real-time strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies. In 1998, Blizzard released the game "StarCraft", which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day. Collectively, all of these games defined the genre, providing the "de facto" benchmark against which new real-time strategy games are measured.