Get ready! Only three days remain before the launch of Age of Empires IV– the long-awaited return of one of PC gaming’s most iconic strategy franchises.

We also have some exciting announcements for you today:

First, the official launch trailer for Age of Empires IV is available to watch now!

Secondly, as of today, selected press and content creators will start publishing their thoughts on this long-awaited title. Now is a great time to check out some of the content from some of our favorite creators!

Check It Out[www.youtube.com]

Join us October 28 and jump into the fray! Available on Xbox Game Pass for PC, Steam, and Windows.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466860/Age_of_Empires_IV/

---

For those who've made the leap to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, the first official expansion, Lords of the West, is now available! Pick up your copy today and expand your gameplay:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389240/

---

Included in the Lords of the West expansion:

[expand type=showmore]
Rise from a mere duchy to the marvel of Western Europe through economic might, cultural achievement, and the use of advanced military technology and tactics.

The dukes of Burgundy played a vital role in the politics of medieval Western Europe. They led the transformation from the medieval to the early modern world and ushered in a golden age for the region called the Northern Renaissance. At their height, these “Grand Dukes of the West” controlled large parts of modern-day France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  Carving a new polity out of French, English, and Holy Roman domains was a daunting task that came with a high price: decades of war and bloodshed.

However, the Burgundians knew to use more than just warfare to get what they wanted. Their diplomatic and marriage policies proved to be even stronger than their swords.

▶︎ CIVILIZATION BONUSES

• Economic upgrades are available one Age earlier than other civs
  
• Stable technologies are 50% cheaper
  
• Gunpowder units gain a +25% bonus to their attack
  
• Cavalier upgrade is available in the Castle Age

▶︎ TEAM BONUS

• Relics generate both Gold and Food

▶︎ UNIQUE UNITS

• Coustillier: Burgundian cavalry unit that utilizes a powerful shock attack when charging into battle. Strong vs. infantry and archers. Weak vs. Camel Riders and Monks.
  
• Flemish Militia: Burgundian unique infantry unit. Strong vs. cavalry. Weak vs. archers.

▶︎ UNIQUE TECHNOLOGIES

• Burgundian Vineyards: Convert all food into gold at a 2:1 ratio; Farmers slowly generate gold in addition to food.
  
• Flemish Revolution: Upgrades all existing Villagers into Flemish Militia, and allows the training of Flemish Militia at Town Centers.

▶︎ FULL TECHNOLOGY TREE

[static.ageofempires.com][/expand]
[expand type=showmore]
Experience the diverse cultures and martial spirit of the Mediterranean’s crossroads as you build one of the most coveted kingdoms of medieval Europe.

Robert Guiscard arrived in Italy in 1047 CE with a robber-band of 35 men. Within a century, his Hauteville family included dukes in Italy, princes in the Middle East, and even the King of Sicily. Join this intrepid family of Norman adventurers and complete their unlikely and compelling story, starting with Robert Guiscard’s arrival in Italy to his nephew Roger II’s consolidation of the Hauteville lands into the Kingdom of Sicily.

The Italo-Normans, as the conquerors and rulers in Norman Italy and Sicily are now known, were successful on the battlefield because of their fierce disposition, vigorous military tradition, keen affinity for tactics and the use of cunning, and sheer torrid speed. In these, they most closely resembled their Viking and Frankish forebears, but as they settled in Italy and Sicily they embraced local cultural customs and norms of governance.

▶︎ CIVILIZATION BONUSES

• Castles and Town Centers are constructed 100% faster
  
• Land military units absorb 50% of all incoming bonus damage
  
• Farm upgrades provide +100% additional food to Farms before they need to be reseeded

▶︎ TEAM BONUS

• Transport ships +5 carry capacity and +10 armor versus anti-ship bonus damage

▶︎ UNIQUE UNIT

• Serjeant: A hardy infantry unit which can also construct Donjons.

▶︎ UNIQUE BUILDING

• Donjon: Unique fortification used to train Serjeants. Units can garrison in the building for protection; Archers and Villagers shoot additional projectiles when garrisoned.

▶︎ UNIQUE TECHNOLOGIES

• First Crusade: Upon researching, each Town Center (up to 5) spawns a one-time group of 10 Serjeants.
  
• Scutage: Upon researching, each team member receives a one-time payment of 15 gold for each military unit that they own.

▶︎ FULL TECHNOLOGY TREE

[static.ageofempires.com][/expand]
[expand type=showmore]

▶︎ EDWARD LONGSHANKS
Edward I is widely considered as one of England’s greatest rulers, mentioned in the same breath as Alfred the Great and Elizabeth I. Known as “Longshanks” for his height and intimidating stature, he was a man that commanded respect as he transformed England from a tattered state into a prominent European power.

▶︎ THE GRAND DUKES OF THE WEST
he Burgundian dukes are driven by ambition and greed. They lead an extremely luxurious life and need to constantly expand their domains in order to pay for it. Image and publicity mean everything to them. Philip the Bold earned his nickname after the defeat at Poitiers and John the Fearless earned his after a defeat in the Crusades, so these dukes know the importance of propaganda.

▶︎ THE HAUTEVILLES
Robert Guiscard arrived in Italy in 1047 CE with a robber-band of 35 men. Within a century, his Hauteville family included dukes in Italy, princes in the Middle East, and even the King of Sicily. Join this intrepid family of Norman adventurers and complete their unlikely and compelling story.

[/expand]
[expand type=showmore]

Unlock and earn brand-new achievements on Steam and the Microsoft Store!

[/expand]

---

There’s no better time to expand your Age of Empires II experience! With free updates every month, new features and content, exclusive game modes and challenges, amazing community tournaments, and other surprises coming to the strategy classic, there’s always something to look forward to as you play and master all it has to offer!

Pick up your copy of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edtion and Lords of the West today, and then come join the discussion on our official social channels:

• Age on Twitter
  
• Age on Facebook[www.facebook.com]
  
• Age on Discord[discord.gg]
  
• Age Forums[forums.ageofempires.com]
  
• Age on Instagram[www.instagram.com]

---

Visit our support page for some of the most common issues and troubleshooting tips to help you get started in the game:

• Age of Empires II Support[support.ageofempires.com]

We'll see you on the battlefield! ⚔

Following its raging success in 2018, the Battle of Africa tournament—hosted by MembTV—makes its triumphant return to the tournament stage, this time on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. The Battle of Africa 2 brings team games to the forefront of the Age of Empires scene: pitting the top 16 teams in the world against each other starting later this month through the start of June.

Check out the announcement video for the tournament:
As the first 3v3 Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition tournament, the Battle of Africa 2 offers a full handcart of unique strategies, tactics, and options for participating teams to synergize their play styles and civilization choices.

A custom map pool has been designed for Battle of Africa 2 with an emphasis on open land maps. These maps are designed to encourage aggressive, fast-paced gameplay throughout the entire tournament—what's certain to result in an out-of-this-world viewing experience.
The qualification phase started on 1st of May with 16 teams battling it out for a position in the tournament. The top 8 teams will qualify for the main event; the 8 losing teams will move into the Gold League, a separate bracket from the Main Event.

With teams such as Aftermath, Team Secret, Suomi, Vietnam Legends and YinYang competing, it's going to be a hard-fought battle to the end. Will TheViper, TaToH and DauT of Team Secret hold on to their title as the reigning champions in the Battle of Africa?
You can catch all of the action with tournament host, MembTV[www.twitch.tv], or can follow along with your regional shoutcasters thanks to the tournament's open streaming policy.

• Qualification Stage || 16th of May - 17th of May
  
• Round 1 & 2 || 22nd of May - 24th of May
  
• Round 3 & Quarterfinals || 30th of May - 31st of May
  
• Semi-finals || 6th of June
  
• Grand Final || 7th of June

2020 has been an outstanding year for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and the Battle of Africa 2 tournament will be no exception!

—Contributed by the Forgotten Empires Community Lead, BBQTurkman

It's that time! After the 32 player qualifier, the 16 Main Event participants have been decided. This week they will play with hidden identities to fight for over $50,000 in prizes. The action begins this Thursday as T90Official hosts the Hidden Cup 3 Main Event.

The action resumes this Thursday as T90Official hosts the final eight matches on the road to the Quarterfinals!

⚔ Thursday, March 19th

Games start at 14:00 GMT (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

• Charlemagne vs King Sancho
  
• Joan The Maid vs Bad Neighbor
  
• Leif Erikson vs Princess Yodit Kotyan
  
• Khan vs Sheriff of Nottingham

⚔ Friday, March 20th

Games start at 14:00 GM (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

• Saladin vs Friar Tuck
  
• Alaric The Goth vs Vlad Dracula
  
• Henry The Lion vs William The Conqueror
  
• Charles Martel vs Emperor in a Barrel

⚔ Saturday, March 21st

Games start at 14:00 GMT (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

• Quarterfinals (Four Best-of-Five Games)

⚔ Sunday, March 22nd

Games start at 14:00 GMT (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

• Semifinals (Two Best-of-Seven Games)
  
• Live Grand Final

Tune in for all the action over on T90official's channel on twitch.tv:

Now through January 27, games in the Age of Empires franchise are discounted from 25-75% off during the Steam Lunar New Year Sale!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/813780/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1017900/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/105450/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/266840/

*Offer ends Monday, January 27 at 10AM Pacific time*

Today, we are thrilled to announce that Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will be coming to the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) and Ultimate, and Steam on November 14, 2019!

For all you Age II players eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the Definitive Edition, you can also pre-order the game starting TODAY! You’ll be able to enjoy all the features—including cross play with your friends, four brand-new civilizations, three new campaigns, and a transport ship full of game improvements—right on day one, so be sure to unlock your copy today: 

• Pre-order Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Steam

Our goal is to make the best possible version of Age II that we can, working right alongside our community. So while Age II DE’s release is only a few months away, you can sign up to participate in the Age II DE beta right now—visit https://www.ageofempires.com/insiders to join the Age Insider program – and help us tune and refine Age II even further. You’ll also have a chance to participate in future beta opportunities, so sign up!

For more information, visit the official announcement over on Xbox Wire[news.xbox.com].

We’ll see you on the battlefield!

What a week it has been! As always, E3 brings out the passion and excitement of the community, and this year was no exception! This year, the folks from the newly-created Age of Empires studio at Microsoft Games teamed up with our friends from Forgotten Empires to show off our work over the past year: bringing you a first look, a hands-on demo, and the chance to sign up for the first beta playtest of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!
https://youtu.be/ZOgBVR21pWg
The announcement during Microsoft’s Keynote presentation kicked off a flood of news, discussion, and announcements from the event. On the heels of the official gameplay trailer, press and players began discussing and sharing news about all of the new features coming with the game. Here are just a few of the articles you can read to catch up with the conversation:

• E3 2019: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Launching Fall 2019, Beta Coming Soon[news.xbox.com] via Xbox Wire
  
• Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and new campaign coming to Xbox Game Pass[www.polygon.com] via Polygon
  
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition lives up to its title via Destructoid
  
• E3 2019: Hands-on with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Coming This Fall with Xbox Game Pass on PC[www.thevideogames.co.uk] via The Video Games
  
• Age of Empires II is coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta)! via Xbox Game Pass
  
• Age of Empires II: HD Edition Won’t Be Taken Off Steam When Definitive Edition Launches[www.dualshockers.com] via DualShockers

Throughout the week—with the help of the new and official Age of Empires Discord server[discord.gg]—players have been doing some speculation of their own. The conversation has been amazing…the hype has been real…and we’ve even managed to answer several questions that caused some concern following the announcement. Here are some of the hottest discussion topics to emerge from E3 this week:

• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition at E3[forums.ageofempires.com] via the Official Forum
  
• AoE2 Definitive Edition Trailer Breakdown and Screenshots via YouTube
  
• AOE 2 DE new civilizations revealed! via Reddit
  
• Age of Empires II DE – E3 2019 – Gameplay Trailer via Reddit

As a final treat, Mixer set aside some time to chat with Microsoft’s Adam Isgreen and Forgotten Empires’ Bert Beeckman about the game. While short, it provided a glimpse at a different experience than the E3 demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdqS0S2CgcQ
The week was HUGE for Age of Empires, the development team, and has been the PERFECT way to kick off the transition into the first beta of the Definitive Edition. If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up as an Age Insider for a chance to participate in the first playtest on June 18:

• Sign up to be an Age Insider![www.ageofempires.com]

We also know there are still questions that remain after E3: about the Definitive Edition and some of the other projects we have in the works. We hear you, and we’re excited to share more information, teasers, and details as they get further along in development.

• Age of Empires 4 is ‘making good progress’, and Microsoft will talk about it later this year via PCGamer

A huge thanks to everyone who dropped by the booth during E3, who shared their excitement with us on Discord, who helped share the news, and who have been a part of this wonderful community over the past two decades! We can’t wait to see what the journey holds in store for the next two decades!

See you on the battlefield!

— The Age of Empires Community Team

Looking for more #E32019 insight into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Microsoft Creative Director, Adam Isgreen, will join Bert Beeckman (aka Cysion) from Forgotten Empires to play and discuss the game this coming Wednesday on Mixer!

• When: Wednesday, June 12 @ 10:45a PDT / 1:45a EDT / 5:45p GMT
  
• Where: https://mixer.com/ageofempires
  
• Latest Info: https://twitter.com/ageofempires

See you soon!

Its official—E3 2019 has begun! Our villagers are working diligently to complete the final touches of our booth and are eager to share with you Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

In addition to stopping by and trying out the demo on the floor, we have a special treat for all our fans, both here in attendance and around the world. As you may have heard, we will be launching a closed beta test of Age II: DE on Steam very soon!

Invites will be sent out to our esteemed Age of Empires Insiders in multiple waves over the coming weeks. Our goal is to get as many of our fans’ hands on the game as early as possible, listening to your valuable feedback and ultimately building a great game – together.

Not an Age Insider yet? Join the program by clicking here[www.ageofempires.com] and have a chance at participating in the beta!

For our existing Age of Empires Insiders, we’ll need you to connect your Steam account with your Age of Empires Insider profile. This will enable you to be eligible for participation in the beta and share your feedback about the game with us!

If you have any questions on the Age Insider program, including how to connect your existing account to Steam, check out our handy FAQ here[www.ageofempires.com].

Be sure to follow us on Facebook[www.facebook.com], Instagram[www.instagram.com], and Twitter as well as check out our brand-new Official Age of Empires Discord channel here[discord.gg].

#E3Empires