Current and future University of Arizona and Arizona Online students can now earn credit toward their college degrees when they interact with special educational content while playing the popular strategy video game Age of Empires IV.

The University of Arizona Online Illuminated Histories Experience, developed by two Department of History faculty members – associate professor of medieval history Paul Milliman and associate professor of Roman history and department head Alison Futrell – in collaboration with game designers from World's Edge game studio and Relic Entertainment, is now available on the Age of Empires website. The educational material supplements the historical storytelling in the Age of Empires IV single-play campaign and allows players to take part in additional out-of-game content, including testing their knowledge of the historical time period.

Based on admission status with the University of Arizona and Arizona Online, engaging with the content could allow players to earn one academic credit at the university.

"It's a really innovative way to learn," Futrell said. "We don't know of any partnerships like this between a university and video game designers anywhere else in the world. We hope that both students on the University of Arizona main campus and Age of Empires players will be excited about the course and interested in other classes the history department offers."

As with any college course, there are some required materials. Prospective students will need to have access to Age of Empires IV on Steam, the Microsoft Store, or with subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Game Pass for PC. All players will need to be signed into the game using an Xbox account, which is available for free.