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Age of Empires IV Winter Update Coming Next Week

We hinted that the Winter 2021 update mentioned in our Community Roadmap might be closer than expected, and here’s us confirming it! We’ll be bringing you our first major update next week, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on the 100+ Balance and Bug Fixes contained within. 

We’ve detailed some planned changes previously, but for posterity’s sake, here they are again:

  • French Hulk ship tweaked to no longer rule the high seas. 
  • Crossbowmen, Spearman and Elite Crossbowmen will pose a greater threat to Cavalry. 
  • Significantly reducing the cost of the Chinese civilization’s Repeater crossbow. 
  • Fix to HRE Prelate unit to allow them to continue inspiring after being pushed.  
  • Mongol “Superior Mobility” adjusted to ensure the speed modifier is appropriately applied. Thanks to the community for calling this out! 
  • Fix issued for the Rus civilization to eliminate infinite Relic duplication. 

As well, here are some of the feature additions and adjustments that will also be included in the update: 

  • Make the choice to turn on and view in-game player scores! Based on community feedback, we’ve made the decision to implement in-game scores for those who wish to have them. We know that using this feature can change the way you choose to play the game, and so we want to empower you to make the choice for yourself – starting with our Winter 2021 update, you’ll be able to enable in-game player score on a case-by-case basis for custom lobby multiplayer and skirmish matches.  
  • We’ve moved the Chinese Dynasty button and user interface to a less prominent position on the screen. You’ll now find it in the lower left-hand corner.  
  • The ability to view the map post-match is something you’ve asked for, and we’ve begun to make changes to allow you to do just that. Starting with the Winter 2021 update, you’ll be able to pan across the map of a completed match after finishing up your game – we’ll be looking to fold in additional options to allow you to easily switch back and forth between the completed map view and post-game stats in Spring 2022.  
  • Refinements made to the in-game mini-map to improve readability are also coming in Winter 2021. Improvements include reducing the size of icons, ensuring the Wonder icon on the mini-map matches the icon displayed in the HUD, increasing the size of the Primary Town Center in comparison to other Landmarks, and adjusting the color of certain resources.  

We’ll have full release notes to share when the update’s ready to go! In addition, we also wanted to give a proper heads up about saved games, replays, and progress below.

What will happen to my saved games and replays?

Upon updating to this build version, you will no longer be able to utilize replays or saves from previous builds. 

What about my campaign progress and unlocked content?

Campaign progress and all content unlocked within the game will be unaffected.

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