We on the Age of Empires team want to say a huge thank you to our 50 million players around the world. 2023 was a huge year for our games and our community. We wanted to share a look at what there is to look forward to in 2024 and we’ve just wrapped our New Year, New Age show which did just that. If you watched, thank you for joining us! If you weren’t able to join us live, or you just want a reminder of all the things we covered, here’s a rundown of what’s coming this year.

• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition new DLC – Victors and Vanquished – coming March 14^th
• Age of Mythology: Retold coming to Xbox and PC in 2024
• Age of Empires Mobile first look
• New Year, New Age Sale with games and DLC up to 50% off
• Age of Empires IV update and Season 7 coming early Spring
• New Year, New Age login reward for Age of Empires IV available now
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition free to play now! New DLC coming end of 2024
• Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado coming later this year

New DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Victors and Vanquished coming March 14th: Pre-Order Now!

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition had a landmark year in 2023 with the addition of the Return of Rome and The Mountain Royals expansions. More than four years after launch, the game continues to grow. Telling more stories from the world’s rich history as well as bringing more civilizations to play.

The next chapter for Age of Empires II: DE will be the single player focused DLC Victors and Vanquished, coming March 14th. Introduced in today’s show by its Creator, Ramsey Abdulrahim, this DLC will be like no other we’ve made before for AoE II: DE. Victors and Vanquished features 19 epic scenarios. Your strategy and choices will decide your fate: will you emerge as the ultimate victor, or fall as the vanquished? You’ll play as Ragnar Lothbrok, Oda Nobunaga, Charlemagne and more. Each scenario features professional voice acting, new music, achievement and the quality you’d expect from an official Age of Empires scenario. 

Pre-Order Now!

Victors and Vanquished will be launching soon, and you can pre-order today and receive a 15% discount! Victors and Vanquished comes to PC and Xbox on March 14th 2024.

Pre-Order Now!

Age of Mythology: Retold

Coming to Xbox and PC in 2024 – Wishlist Now!

Age of Mythology: Retold is another title that got its debut at our 25th anniversary. Since then, we’ve continued to develop this exciting reimagining of fan favorite Age of Mythology.

Today Art Director Melinda Rose gave players worldwide their first look at Retold via three in-game units, brought to life through amazing AR technology. Showcasing Medusa, Pegasus and Cerberus from the Greek pantheon, Melinda took us through how each unit has been updated, given completely new art and even had gameplay tweaks that will intensify their strengths and unique powers making them even more important in your strategy. They will be stronger, faster, bigger and bolder.

We are also beyond thrilled to announce that players do not have long to wait. Age of Mythology: Retold is coming to Xbox consoles and PC in 2024 and is available to wishlist on Steam now!

Wishlist on Steam Now!

If you want more information about what we showed today, be sure to follow the Age of Mythology social channels and visit www.ageofempires.com.

• Age of Mythology on X
• Age of Mythology on Facebook
• Age of Mythology on Instagram

Age of Empires Mobile

The first look at a brand new AoE world

At our 25th anniversary event we announced Age of Empires Mobile and we’ve been getting questions from intrigued and excited players ever since.

Today we’re so excited to unveil this partnership with the fantastic team at TiMi Studio Group, who are bringing this brand-new Age of Empires world to life. Age of Empires Mobile is a mobile war strategy game where players will embark on an exhilarating adventure and forge unbreakable bonds with friends. Featuring rich real-time controls, stunning visuals and historical heroes on grand battlefields, this addition to the franchise has so much to offer.

The game features elements from Age of Empires games, merged with brand-new and mobile-specific gameplay. You’ll engage in strategic resource management, develop unique technologies and train diverse armies to build and defend your kingdom.

In the New Year New Age show, we premiered the first gameplay trailer for Age of Empires Mobile as well as a behind the scenes look with the team at TiMi Studio Group.

You can pre-register now for Age of Empires Mobile on iOS and Google Play. For more information about the game, visit www.aoemobile.com.

New Year, New Age Sale Now!

Celebrating 50 Million Players, Get Up to 50% Off Now!

With such a fantastic roster of titles, there’s never been a better time to complete your Age of Empires collection! We’re celebrating our 50 million players with a New Year, New Age Sale on Steam, Xbox and Windows Store. From today until the 29th of February, almost everything in the Age of Empires catalogue is up to 50% off. Go on, treat yourself.

New For Age of Empires IV

Next Age of Empires IV update and season coming soon, plus a limited time login reward

In November, we launched the best-selling Age of Empires expansion of all time, The Sultans Ascend, for Age of Empires IV. We’re so thrilled to see players enjoying the content, which included two new civs, four variant civs, and all new campaign, ten new maps and two new biomes.

If you haven’t yet experienced The Sultans Ascend, it’s available now! Buy now and receive a 10% discount for a limited time.

Steam

Microsoft Store

Xbox

Today we announced that Age of Empires IV will receive its next major update. Coming in early Spring, it will also mark the launch of Season 7.

As an added thank you to our players, if you log in to the game now, you’ll be able to earn a limited time New Year, New Age reward!

Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado

Happening this year!

The Age of Empires eSports scene continues to flourish, and we couldn’t be more grateful to the tournament organizers, players and supporters who continue to create exciting events, mesmerizing moments and valiant victories year in, year out.

Our partners and friends at Red Bull gave us the great honor today to announce that their next Age of Empires event, Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado will be coming in 2024!

Whilst we’re not ready to share the details just yet, we recommend subscribing to Age of Empires and Red Bull Gaming channels to be sure you don’t miss information when we share it in the not-too-distant future.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

New DLC coming late 2024

One final announcement for the show was that we’ll be bringing Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition players another DLC at the end of 2024!

Whilst we can’t spill all of the details at this point, Director of Production Earnest Yuen was able to sneak in a couple of spoilers…

Thank you for a Fantastic 2023!

In 2023 Age of Empires:

• Launched two titles on Xbox consoles and cloud
• Released the best-selling Age of Empires expansion of all time, The Sultans Ascend for Age of Empires IV
• Released the two fastest selling Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition DLC ever, Return of Rome and The Mountain Royals
• Managed 51 game updates
• Our players performed 200 million Wololos, built 350 million castles and employed 1.5 billion valiant scout sheep

It was truly the biggest year for Age of Empires yet! Thank you to over 50 million players worldwide who have joined us on our journey so far.

We have so much lined up for 2024 and can’t wait to bring you along with us.

That’s the rundown of the show! Head to the Age of Empires YouTube channel if you want to rewatch any of what we showed today.

A heartfelt thank you to each and every one who’s played Age of Empires so far. It’s your love and passion that has kept this franchise going for the last 26 years and we can’t wait for these new chapters in our epic story in 2024.

Effective September 1, 2021, the multiplayer service for the 2007 version of Age of Empires III: Complete Collection currently on Steam will no longer function. The critical factor driving this change is that the ESO domain on which this multiplayer service currently resides is no longer under Microsoft’s control and it will be repurposed by its new owners on that date.

To continue accessing the multiplayer services: We have created a patch that points to a new backend owned by Microsoft that you must manually install prior to September 1, 2021. Due to the age of the title, we have no way to automatically apply the patch for you and you will have to come to our website download linked below to apply the patch manually. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The AgeIIIESOPatch_Full will allow you to access multiplayer services without routing through the deprecated ESO service. It is important to install the patch for additional stability and reliability in the multiplayer environment and avoid issues accessing multiplayer matches. Download and install the patch manually using the steps below:

This is a super-emotional letter for me because I’ve been wanting to write it for nearly 10 years. Like many of you, I loved the original Age of Empires, and as Ensemble drove the Age of Empires games forward, I loved them even more. Matt Booty, Phil Spencer and I have spent a lot of time reminiscing about Age’s past, and plotting the future for this limitless franchise. Working with partners like Relic, Forgotten Empires, and Tantalus, we’ve taken a 2-prong approach to revisiting Age of Empires: Honor the past, and bring the games into the future.

Today is an important day for us! All of the Age of Empires teams have been working hard toward today, XO – the day we not only launch Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, but we also start the long (very long!) series of reveals about Age of Empires IV. Hope you all enjoyed the show, and that you’re as excited as we are about the future for Age.

In June, we announced that we’ve built a studio dedicated to all things Age. Yesterday, we announced the name: World’s Edge. Why “World’s Edge”? Because we love the fact that Age of Empires is about exploring without limit. Human history has so many stories to tell, RTS gameplay has plenty of depth yet to find, and you – the Age of Empires community – have unending passion for the game.

And so finally it is to you, the Age of Empires gamers, that we extend tremendous gratitude and thanks. You are global, you are vocal, you have dedicated your time and energy and passion to the Age of Empires games, and we’re thrilled to be in the game with you. My friend Adam Isgreen likes to say that Age is Human, Global, Impactful, and Enlightening. These words also describe you! Thank you for your support and your attention.

Hope you all enjoy the relaunch of our greatest legacy game yet, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Hope to see you online, comp-stomping, PVP’ing, and streaming campaigns and mods.

XO

Shannon Loftis
Studio Head, World’s End Edge

Ibertolotti

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

But…where is everyone? Trick or treat?!

KeepingCanvas62

A small town in the desert encounters a severe drought. Their sole source of water, a river that flows to the east, dries up and leaves parched dirt and dry mouths. The lack of water takes a heavy toll and the town’s residents weaken. Many die, so the local priest proposes a sacrificial ritual to restore their good fortune. Five young women are slaughtered on the cliffs overlooking the town. Their blood waters the ground, but the river remains dry. Enraged the towns folk seize the priest and place his decapitated head on a pike in the middle of the streets. As the once strong militia falters, the town becomes easy prey for organized bandits. Within a week the whole town is torched and the entire population is slaughtered. The only living thing that remains is a small patch of pumpkins, cursed to rot in the heat of burning fires.

The Town Square, with the executed priest and the dried river bed to the east.

The Grave Yard, where the bodies are piled high and the putrid stench fills the air.

The tainted land where the sacrifice occurred. It overlooks the rotting pumpkin patch and a small mining camp.

Will10154

Age of Empires Online Halloween
Something a bit more cheerful, the Happy Halloween in my Egyptian city of Abydos; shrines, gardens, obelisks and a small pyramid surrounded by haunted trees and smiling pumpkins.
Brings back lots of good memories. 

robbotomator

Would you go treat-or-treating in this spooky ghost town ?
Happy halloween everyone 

Trillionaire

Medieval Aged Themed Halloween Party at Cold Spooky island

One of these weeks they’ll let me pick everyone because choosing only 5 is really, really tough. I love all the entries and the creativity that goes into them. Please keep them coming! Even if you’ve won and are ineligible to win again (temporarily!), please feel free to submit an entry again to show off your skills! To the winners for last month: Congrats and keep an eye on your forums inbox!

For November we’re keeping it really simple and would love to see you showcase your favorite unit in Age-land. It’s simple so we expect a lot of entries to choose from!

Your entry MUST include an image (max of 3 images) and must relate to an Age of Empires game (or an illustration having to do with one). You may also include a written portion explaining your entry that may be no more than 600 characters in length (not including spaces); if your entry includes non-English words, you must provide an accurate English translation of those words in your written portion.

We’ll pick our five favorites from the submissions and that’s it! Super easy to enter so what are you waiting for? Entries must be appropriate and can be submitted via the forums thread here before 5:00 PM PDT on November 29, 2017. You can find the full official rules here.

Good luck! 💚

Now as we come up to the 20^th anniversary of the original game, and the launch of the Definitive Edition we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and look back at the history of Age of Empires. Want to join us in this nostalgia-filled endeavor? Take a look at the video below.

It’s been so great sharing these games with you for the past 20 years, and we look forward to the next 20 years of Age of Empires!