In the late 1940s, the French Army sought to replace its aging medium tanks with a new 50-ton medium tank that would serve as the main asset in armoured divisions. The French company AMX initially proposed an under-armoured version of the Tiger II tank with 30 mm plates, but after feedback from the army, the armour was enhanced to 80 mm in the front and 40 mm on the sides. Changes were made to reduce weight in other aspects of the tank, such as introducing a new oscillating turret and redesigning the suspension wheels. The first prototype, named M4, featured a 90 mm SA47 gun and was slightly over 50 tons. A second prototype with a 100 mm SA 47 L/50 gun led to the development of the AMX-50 tank.

It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It uses an improved 90 mm SA47 cannon over the ARL-44 and has a 7-round autoloader and a better armour layout while being more mobile. Marking a new generation of French tanks, the AMX M4 is the prototype of what to expect from French tank development moving forward. The AMX M4 is the sturdiest representative of French rank IV vehicles, from which it shares some common features: good mobility, an oscillating turret (fitted with an autoloader), sloped armour in front and back, high hull, high gun placement, good gun depression, 4 crew members, a coaxial MAC 31 machine gun and large tracks. What distinguishes the AMX M4 is its Panther-like hull, its efficient 90 mm SA47 gun developed from the ARL-44 and the thickest armour pattern of all French ground forces with 80 mm sloped at ~55° in the frontal area.