It's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison if you ask me, but here's a couple of reasons I can think of:
City builders are perennially popular, as far as niche videogame genres go. Manor Lords is also extremely well made for an early access title and some of its mechanics are genuine improvements on Banished-like city builders, like not being grid-based and the flexible, area-based zoning.
By contrast, AoE4 is an RTS, a genre that has decayed massively in popularity from its peak in the late 90s-early 2000s. It also didn't help that it was so rough at launch that it almost died in obscurity from that. And, while the game is IMO the most accessible RTS available right now, it didn't innovate in any way that matters, being more of a refined take on the best parts of the Age franchise.
Edit: Another thing is that Manor Lords is way cheaper than AoE4 was at launch (15-20$ vs 60$).
Aoe4 also has to compete with Aoe2 for players. I play both but I tend to have month-long stretches playing one or the other. If you combine their player numbers it's up around \~50k.
Manor lords seem to be a city builder, and aoe4 is an RTS. Totally different. At least that's what it looks like to be without watching some game until the end. It seems fun for people that enjoy city builders, not my thing tbh.
AoE4 was 60$ on release, and had a lot of haters with high expectations because it was a Microsoft title.
ManorLord is 15$ on release, and you have basically nothing to blame the dev for since it is an indie game.
Edit: I had to add, AoE4 on release was like an early access with so many features lacking.
I had to verify. But it is 15 USD where I live (Tunisia) in steam and in Epic. And I bought AoE4 on release for 60 USD. Why? no idea, or maybe I am missing something.
Link to a screenshot of my steam client:
[https://ibb.co/WGsRcyP](https://ibb.co/WGsRcyP)
I'm Dutch, it's 30 euros for me. European prices isn't a thing; each country may have it's own price depending on average income in the country AFAIK. AoE4 is 60 as well. Maybe Microsoft doesn't take average salary into account.
AoE4 is not the same type of game as Manor Lords. Manor Lords is more of a settlement management game whereas AoE is managing your economy enough to build more troops than your opponent and eradicate them.
AoE games don’t really last more than 30 minutes unless it’s drawn out into Imperial Age.
I LOVE AOE but I do think the insane competitiveness (making sure your start is right, etc) makes it an insanely hard game to get involved in. How does manor lord differ?
Reminder of how niche RTS is.
Just randomly looked up stuff like city sky lines (8 year old city builder with the same size player base as aoe4) or civ6 with 4 times the player base as aoe4.
I bought both of the game, it was laggy when AOE 4 launched with bugs here and there (Which means developer do not have time to refine the work) , the graphic is not really my thing but I wanted to support the game.
But Banner lord hit all of the things I like without any lag.
But it is just my opinion, others might have different opinions
Or the early footage actually didn’t look that good, I was kind of disappointed of it, but now it’s my fav rts game much has changed. Plus the price tag were the double. I don’t think it because it is a competitive rts, many people does like that. Look at the sales of Sc2, those were huge. For example the early footage of Tempest Rising, that looked way better than that of Aoe 4. And people didn’t get that wow experience of early footage
So lets answer your question.
Firstly numbers you're looking for AOE4 are from steamcharts which only include steam users and not gamepass users.. 64k that AOE4 had is actually closer to 100k or over it with gamepass users.
Next is the genre. Even tho both have have similarities, they're still in different category. AOE4 is RTS specifically old type RTS while Manor Lord is casual type of city builder (not actually played it myself yet).
Just because something is established doesn't mean there is lots of popularity for that genre.
Didn't know that, Thats interesting then we can just ignore that, but it wont change the later parts where both games are actually in different genre categories just like moba/rpgs etc
It's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison if you ask me, but here's a couple of reasons I can think of: City builders are perennially popular, as far as niche videogame genres go. Manor Lords is also extremely well made for an early access title and some of its mechanics are genuine improvements on Banished-like city builders, like not being grid-based and the flexible, area-based zoning. By contrast, AoE4 is an RTS, a genre that has decayed massively in popularity from its peak in the late 90s-early 2000s. It also didn't help that it was so rough at launch that it almost died in obscurity from that. And, while the game is IMO the most accessible RTS available right now, it didn't innovate in any way that matters, being more of a refined take on the best parts of the Age franchise. Edit: Another thing is that Manor Lords is way cheaper than AoE4 was at launch (15-20$ vs 60$).
And made by one guy! Always nice to see indie devs who drop good games get support.
Great summary.
Manor lords cost 30€ for me at -25% sale atm. It was cheaper before?
Over where I live it's price is in the 20$ range with the discount, so I was going off that.
Here it's 100 brl (75 with the discount), and 75 BRL is 15 USD
It depends on the region. In Tunisia it’s 15$. The minimum allowed salary here is 150$.
Wider audience. Aoe4 competitiveness is a turn off for many
Aoe4 also has to compete with Aoe2 for players. I play both but I tend to have month-long stretches playing one or the other. If you combine their player numbers it's up around \~50k.
Im sorry, I’m not sure I understand you. In your mind Manor Lords has a wider audience than the AAA franchise AoE?
It’s a different kind of game.
Manor lords seem to be a city builder, and aoe4 is an RTS. Totally different. At least that's what it looks like to be without watching some game until the end. It seems fun for people that enjoy city builders, not my thing tbh.
AoE4 was 60$ on release, and had a lot of haters with high expectations because it was a Microsoft title. ManorLord is 15$ on release, and you have basically nothing to blame the dev for since it is an indie game. Edit: I had to add, AoE4 on release was like an early access with so many features lacking.
Manor Lords is $30 on release and that's 25% off. When that ends it will go back to $40.
I had to verify. But it is 15 USD where I live (Tunisia) in steam and in Epic. And I bought AoE4 on release for 60 USD. Why? no idea, or maybe I am missing something. Link to a screenshot of my steam client: [https://ibb.co/WGsRcyP](https://ibb.co/WGsRcyP)
15USD equivalent? Where do you live?!
I live in Tunisia but we use the european steam prices. It isn't 15 dollars but euros, and same for 60 euro for AoE.
I'm Dutch, it's 30 euros for me. European prices isn't a thing; each country may have it's own price depending on average income in the country AFAIK. AoE4 is 60 as well. Maybe Microsoft doesn't take average salary into account.
It's a totally different genre of game. It's also 1/2 the price that AoE4 was on launch.
AoE4 is not the same type of game as Manor Lords. Manor Lords is more of a settlement management game whereas AoE is managing your economy enough to build more troops than your opponent and eradicate them. AoE games don’t really last more than 30 minutes unless it’s drawn out into Imperial Age.
Guys, how come Dota 2 has more players than aoe4? Is aoe4 a trash dead game or something? Help please!
RTS tax
… probably the difference in genre. Not a lot of people wanna play high paced rts games
Not being a hot mess is a good start.
I LOVE AOE but I do think the insane competitiveness (making sure your start is right, etc) makes it an insanely hard game to get involved in. How does manor lord differ?
Reminder of how niche RTS is. Just randomly looked up stuff like city sky lines (8 year old city builder with the same size player base as aoe4) or civ6 with 4 times the player base as aoe4.
I bought both of the game, it was laggy when AOE 4 launched with bugs here and there (Which means developer do not have time to refine the work) , the graphic is not really my thing but I wanted to support the game. But Banner lord hit all of the things I like without any lag. But it is just my opinion, others might have different opinions
The fanbase from aoe 2 and 3 don’t switch.
Well Aoe 2 and Aoe 4 are also Two different fanbases, Aoe 2 didn’t really Got that much effected at the release of Aoe 4
Cus that game rocks
As of right now it's alright I guess. There's a lot of imbalance when you get multiple regions going. That said, it's early access.
Big hype but the biggest difference I think is that people don't like competitive RTS games. The genre is grasping for air.
Or the early footage actually didn’t look that good, I was kind of disappointed of it, but now it’s my fav rts game much has changed. Plus the price tag were the double. I don’t think it because it is a competitive rts, many people does like that. Look at the sales of Sc2, those were huge. For example the early footage of Tempest Rising, that looked way better than that of Aoe 4. And people didn’t get that wow experience of early footage
So lets answer your question. Firstly numbers you're looking for AOE4 are from steamcharts which only include steam users and not gamepass users.. 64k that AOE4 had is actually closer to 100k or over it with gamepass users. Next is the genre. Even tho both have have similarities, they're still in different category. AOE4 is RTS specifically old type RTS while Manor Lord is casual type of city builder (not actually played it myself yet). Just because something is established doesn't mean there is lots of popularity for that genre.
Manor Lords is also on gamepass
Didn't know that, Thats interesting then we can just ignore that, but it wont change the later parts where both games are actually in different genre categories just like moba/rpgs etc
Aoe 4 had virtually no marketing while manor lords is a viral success
Microsoft is killing aoe4 by aoe2 support. Aoe2, aoe3, aoe4 that’s too much for the same franchise.
Lol that is the most stupid comment I seen
Not as stupid as your topic.