In addition, every civilization except the Abbasid Dynasty has four Landmarks (the starting town center plus one each in Dark, Feudal, and Castle Ages).

[9] Microsoft's Executive Vice-president of Gaming, Phil Spencer, confirmed on June 11, 2019, that Age of Empires IV was still in development, with more information coming later in 2019.

[15] In-game music was written by Dynamedion composers Tilman Sillescu (main theme, menu music, trailers, Mongols, Holy Roman Empire), Alexander Röder (Chinese, English, Ottomans), Henning Nugel (Rus', Abbasid, Malians, Byzantines), Armin Haas (Delhi Sultanate, Malians), Christian Wirtz (Ottomans, Byzantines), Nicolai Patricio (Japanese), Dominik Morgenroth (Japanese) and also Mikolai Stroinski (French).

[21] IGN summed up their review by saying "Age of Empires 4 is an enjoyable RTS throwback that often plays it too safe, but excels when it doesn't.

[33] Hayes Madsen of CGMagazine summed up his 10/10 review by saying "Age of Empires IV is a bold and ambitious evolution of the series, and quite likely one of the best RTS games ever made.

"[34] The Washington Post enjoyed the campaign balancing describing it as how "Every battle feels like it could tip any way at any moment" and that there was a "magic to this design".

[36] PCGamesN's Ian Boudreau praised the Art of War tutorials, saying they were "hugely helpful for new players who want to understand the nuts and bolts of successful economy management".

[37] Robert Zak of PC Gamer felt the distinct civilizations were the fourth entry's greatest triumph, calling "the visual and strategic" variety "one of the most significant evolutions in the series".

[39] Darryn Bonthuys of GameSpot called the game "satisfying", praising the historically educational campaign as well as the uniqueness of the factions.

He criticized the dated visuals and the lack of innovation regarding the standard Age of Empires formula, saying that the game "rarely ventures out of its comfort zone".