Age of Empires 4 finally reemerged with a new gameplay trailer at XO19 last week. That was the first we'd seen from the game in about two years. However, with the spotlight now shining on Microsoft's new studio World's Edge has taken some time to clear up a few things about their upcoming entry into the Age of Empires series. In a talk with PCGamesN, creative director Adam Isgreen confirmed that Age of Empires 4 will not have microtransactions or in-app purchases.

This is welcome news for PC gamers who have had to endure some of their favorite franchises getting "modernized" over the last few years. Releases like SimCity in 2013 and Dungeon Keeper on mobile have failed to live up to their past glories. Games would be safe in worrying that the same could happen with Age of Empires 4.

However, for now, all seems good; at least on the microtransactions front. As Isgreen says, “the idea of microtransactions in a real-time strategy game isn’t a thing". Of course, games like Starcraft II have attempted to bring that practice into the RTS genre. That said, they never felt like they fit with the genre. Instead, the team will focus on expansions for the game, similar to what you see in the Civilization franchise.

And, Isgreen made it a point to say that Age of Empires 4 is not the only game that might receive new expansions. He cited the recently released Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as a title the team is looking at. This is all great news for Age of Empires fans. After so long without much new to play, they are getting a cornucopia of new content. Hopefully, World's Edge can deliver on the promise shown in last week's gameplay trailer.

Age of Empires 4 doesn't yet have a release date, but will hopefully be out relatively soon.