17-Year-Old Star Wars Game Receives Surprise Update & Players Are Ecstatic

Developer Petroglyph today dropped a new update for its 17-year-old Star Wars game to the sound of roaring cheers from its fan base. The title has been languishing without key support features for over a decade, and this update makes it relevant for new players today to jump in.

Star Wars: Empire at War is a deep strategy game set in the Star Wars universe that was initially released in 2006. The title was incredibly popular at launch and has only garnered more fans over time. However, given its age and the constant influx of bigger and better PCs to play on, various bugs and incompatibility issues have crept up to make this beloved Star Wars entry difficult to play without adhering to certain requirements.

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Star Wars: Empire at War Finally Receives 64-Bit Update

Today’s update hit the Steam page for Star Wars: Empire at War and was immediately picked up by the thousands of players who still enjoy it or think about it each day. The main draw of this update is 64-Bit compatibility, which allows more devices to run the game and fixes the “Out of Memory” error, which prevented so many people from accessing it.

Fans on the r/Games Subreddit can’t believe their luck. “Holy s**t so many emotions. a) Petroglyph still exists??? b) They patched Empire at War?????? c) Empire at War is 17 YEARS OLD????????,” one excited fan said. The game is old enough now that those who played it when it was first released have grown up and are in very different places in life. Regardless, they’re all excited about an update for a strategy game they loved so much.

The draw of Star Wars: Empire at War is that it’s a strategy game in the same vein as the Command & Conquer series, allowing players to look at the big picture of the universe’s spectacular battles and command fleets from whichever side they’d chosen.

Most fans agree that it stays true to the feel of the movies far more than other games, presenting the realities of war and the slog of hammering units against an army in an effort to gain ground, but within the unique Star Wars setting.

The update shows how Petroglyph has far from abandoned Star Wars: Empire at War. It contains dozens of bug fixes for issues only hardcore players may notice and brings the game’s level of polish up to the standard new players might expect today. Unfortunately, no matter how much fans might want it to be, this is not a confirmation that Star Wars: Empire at War 2 is coming any time soon.