Age of Ascent

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{{Infobox video game

| title = Age of Ascent

| collapsible =

| image = Age of Ascent Logo.jpg

| caption =

| developer = Illyriad Games{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/03/03/age-of-ascent-attempts-to-create-the-largest-pvp-battle-in-history-march-14/|title=Age of Ascent attempts to create the largest PvP battle in history March 14|last=Maiberg|first=Emanuel|publisher=PC Gamer|date=March 3, 2014|accessdate=September 14, 2014}}

| publisher = Illyriad Games

| series =

| engine =

| platforms = Web browser

| released =

| genre = Space trading and combat simulator, first-person shooter

| modes = Multiplayer

}}

Age of Ascent is a video game{{cite web|url=http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/02/28/mmobility-age-of-ascent-hopes-to-beat-eve-onlines-battle-concu/|title=MMObility: Age of Ascent hopes to beat EVE Online's battle concurrency record|last=Hindman|first=Beau|publisher=Joystiq|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928081915/http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/02/28/mmobility-age-of-ascent-hopes-to-beat-eve-onlines-battle-concu|archive-date=September 28, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} that aims to become the largest MMO game ever created.{{cite web|url=http://iq.intel.com/how-age-of-ascent-aims-to-become-the-biggest-mmo-ever/|title=How Age of Ascent Aims to Become the Biggest MMO Ever|publisher=Intel|date=June 23, 2014|accessdate=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914112910/http://iq.intel.com/how-age-of-ascent-aims-to-become-the-biggest-mmo-ever/|archive-date=September 14, 2014|url-status=dead}} It utilizes a cutting-edge, on-demand scaling cloud-based architecture and features real-time direct piloting in a single integrated universe.{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/developers/articles/week02mar14/age-of-ascent-defining-a-new-genre-and-plans-to-smash-a-world-record|title=Age of Ascent: Defining a new genre and plans to smash a world record|last=Walden|first=Chris|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=September 14, 2014}} The game was officially announced on February 28, 2014.

On March 14, 2014 Age of Ascent attempted to set a new Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Videogame PvP Battle" during a public alpha.{{cite web|url=http://www.slashgear.com/age-of-ascent-aims-at-world-record-for-largest-video-game-battle-14320743/|title=Age of Ascent aims at world record for largest video game battle|last=Burns|first=Chris|publisher=SlashGear|date=March 14, 2014|accessdate=September 14, 2014}} The alpha was designed to support over 50,000 players with a throttling mechanism in place to handle up to 2,000,000 players. However, at its peak, the test saw 997 concurrent players, utilizing only 2% of the deployed server CPU capacity, falling short of the record of 4075.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/neilkidd/archive/2014/03/16/not-enough-space-combat-in-windows-azure.aspx|title=Not enough Space combat in Windows Azure!|publisher=Microsoft|last=Kidd|first=Neil|date=March 16, 2014|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418161226/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/neilkidd/archive/2014/03/16/not-enough-space-combat-in-windows-azure.aspx|archive-date=April 18, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

Age of Ascent stands out from other games in its genre by being browser-based and leveraging WebGL technology for its implementation. This allows players to jump into the game instantly, regardless of their device, without the need to install plug-ins, apps or executables.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/johnshews_blog/archive/2014/11/04/building-a-massively-multiplayer-game-on-microsoft-azure.aspx|title=Building a massively-multiplayer game on Microsoft Azure|publisher=Microsoft|last=Shewchuk|first=John|date=November 4, 2014|accessdate=November 5, 2014}}