Age of Empires Creator Criticizes RTS Genre, Promises Innovation

The real-time strategy (RTS) genre has been declared dead many times over the last decade, yet it persists. However, according to Age of Empires lead designer Dave Pottinger, the lack of innovation within the genre is concerning. He criticizes modern RTS games for adhering to old rules. In an interview with Videogamer, Dave Pottinger expressed his views on the RTS genre, stating that he aims to break the mold with his new game, currently codenamed Project Citadel. "You know, you’re effectively playing the same game that you were 20 years ago. You look at some of the new ones — the Stormgate’s or whatever — and it’s very much based on a formula. It’s an old and golden set of rules. They were good then, and they’re still good now, they still work, which is nice to see… But at the same time, I wanna do something new," Pottinger's innovative ideas will be showcased in Project Citadel, which currently has no release date.