I'd assume that it's not really a profitable venture for them. Which isn't too surprising given how negatively most people view it and how does basically nothing that isn't done better by other platforms like Steam or even Origin.
And yeah, AoEO is getting shut down after they put it in maintenance mode last year (or the year before, I forget). They really fucked up the monetization of the game and delivered kinda a half-assed product. I enjoyed it while I played, but it was really obvious that it wasn't fully thought out : /