Microsoft, Mogul launch Age of Empires II esports league

Microsoft has announced a partnership with tournament-hosting platform Mogul to develop a competitive series for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. The real-time strategy game will be featured in tournaments across eight Asia-Pacific markets, which include Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea.

Mogul is thrilled to announce we have partnered with @Microsoft! As part of the Age of Empires Asia Cup, we'll launch Age of Empires tournaments in 8 markets. More details: https://t.co/0yhGXRTZug pic.twitter.com/unQiAdOVQm

— Mogul (@Mogulgg) March 2, 2020

Age of Empires II Asia Cup

“Age of Empires is an iconic PC title for gamers in Asia, and one we’re very excited to be bringing into competition through the upcoming AoE II Asia Cup with Mogul,” said Jeremy Hinton, Director of Gaming for Asia at Microsoft, in a release. “Mogul’s competition platform provides us with the ability to deliver engaging, interactive competition events for fans across Asia region, bringing this classic PC game into the online esports age!”

Microsoft and Mogul will collaborate on the launch of the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Branded Hub through the partnership. The Branded Hub will be a centralized location for Microsoft to engage with fans, along with offer exclusive content and paid subscriptions for the historical real-time strategy title. 

Microsoft partnership with Mogul

“Competition and friendly play sits at the core of Age of Empires’ community engagement in the Asia region. We’ve been delighted to be working with Microsoft in recent weeks to discover and engage the region’s most passionate AoE competitors as we work to organize a world-class competition through our Branded Hub and online tournament delivery solution,” commented Mark Warburton, Chief Marketing Officer of Mogul. 

“This partnership is exciting as it aligns perfectly with Mogul’s goal to provide Microsoft and other game publishers alike, with a cost-effective, turnkey grassroots esports solution that can seamlessly scale in multiple languages and delight gaming communities and fans across multiple markets simultaneously.”

The two companies will also create a 12-month tournament series named the Age of Empires II Asia Cup, with Mogul receiving $70,000 in project fees to run the program. The series will run from Q1 of 2020 to February of 2021, which will see the top four teams in each season qualify for the Asia Cup Major.