Bill Gates Takes Credit for a Classic Microsoft Game Coming Back, and We're Not Sure If It's a Joke…

When Bill Gates did his annual question-and-answer session on Reddit last year, one fan used this rare moment of access to the richest man in the world to beg for a new game in Microsoft’s Age of Empires series.

Gates reply sent both the fan, whose login name is “le-click,” and the video gaming world into a tizzy. 

“I will look into this,” Gates said “How many empires do you need?”

Well, a little over a year later, le click’s wish has come true. At the E3 video game conference this week, Microsoft announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, a remastered version of the 1999 original. This enhanced edition will sport 4K ultra high-def graphics and updates to the gameplay.

Better yet, Gates himself returned to that original Reddit thread to take credit for the announcement.

“I know it’s been ages since /u/le-click began this campaign, but I finally have an answer for you. Hopefully it will be worth the wait,” Gates wrote. 

So did a good word from Bill Gates push the Age of Empires remake through? Was it already in the works before that AMA? Did the attention from Gates’ quip get the project a green light, without his direct intervention? We just don’t know.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment to find out, and will update if we hear back.

In the meanwhile, here’s the trailer for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.