This weekend's Age of Empires 4 technical stress test open to all

This weekend's Age of Empires 4 technical stress test is open to all.

Following a closed beta, the upcoming strategy game goes live for all this Friday, 17th September at 6pm UK time until Monday, 20th September at 6pm.

The idea is to scale test the game's servers and systems with as many players as possible ahead of the 28th October release date.

You do not need an invitation. The build is available in the Xbox Insider Hub app (from the Microsoft Store) or Steam, but you can get either whether you're an Age of Empires Insider or not.

Of note: the build is meant for those who meet or exceed Age of Empires 4's minimum spec. During the event, the game will automatically detect and select the correct settings based on hardware, including settings specifically included for min spec devices.

The focus is on multiplayer, but you can play against the AI via the multiplayer custom lobby, and try out Mission Zero (the tutorial). Four civilisations are available: the English, the Chinese, the Holy Roman Empire and the Abbasid Dynasty.

"Given this is a Technical Stress Test, we encourage you to play against others participating," Microsoft said.

"The more data we get from different match-ups across various servers, the more action our development team will be able to take to prep our systems for the big day."

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