Upcoming seminal strategy game Age of Empires IV is having a stress test this coming weekend, giving anyone who wants to play a chance to do so. The test will begin on Friday, September 17 at 10AM PM, and will run until the following Monday, on September 20. You'll need to meet or exceed the minimum specs, but considering you only need to have onboard graphics and a 4 year old CPU, most gamers should be able to meet it.
Age of Empites IV is the first game in the genre-definining strategy classic series in many years. It'll introduce changes to the classic formula, with a greater emphasis on sieges, added complexity in terrain, ambush mechanics, and a whole new host of civilizations to play as. The game looks great too, with major upgrades to the visual style of the series, whilst retaining its classic look and feel.
This stress test is focused on making sure the servers can handle the scale of interest Age of Empires IV will receive when it debuts at the end of October. It's also a test to make sure those running lower-end PCs can run the game well enough. That's why there will be an automated minimum specs check when you launch it, with Microsoft Studios keen to look at performance data for different configurations. The game will automatically set in game settings based on your hardware when you launch it.
If you want to take part in the stress test yourself, you just need to download the game from the Xbox Insider Hub, or via Steam.