Hello everyone!
We've got a HUGE Public Update Preview that we're excited to share with you!

This PUP introduces new balance changes and gameplay fixes, adjustments to graphics, audio, UI, performance stability, and much more including 9 NEW official maps!

Steam owners can view the patch notes here: 🛠 July Public Update Preview Notes! (Note that you must own the game and log in to Steam to access the PUP forum.)

Steam owners can download the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition PUP by following the instructions below:

1. Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
2. Select "Properties…" at the bottom of the menu.
3. Select the "Betas" tab on the left.
4. In the "Beta Participation" dropdown menu, select pup_july.
5. The build will begin downloading—once complete, you are ready to play!

You can provide feedback in the official 🛠 Public Update Preview forums. (Note that you must own the game and log in to Steam to access the PUP forum.)

Thank you for your support and participation, we can't wait to hear what you think! We’re definitely listening and looking for every opportunity to make this the game you love to play.

Thank you!
- The World's Edge Team

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum[forums.ageofempires.com]
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord[discord.gg]

Balance Changes

General

• Fire Lancer attack increased from 8 → 9.
  
• (Elite) Fire Lancer cost reduced from 40 wood 50 gold → 40 wood 45 gold.

Jurchens

• Grenadier
  
  • HP increased from 35 → 40.
    
  • Cost reduced from 35 food 70 gold → 35 food 65 gold.
    
  • Attack increased from 11 → 12.
• Iron Pagoda
  
  • Ability recharge reduced from 60 seconds → 40 seconds, Elite 50 seconds → 30 seconds.
    
  • Upgrade cost reduced from 950 food 750 gold → 950 food 550 gold.

Khitans

• Shepherds and Herders generate +10% additional food civilization bonus removed.
  
• Herder walking distance on Pastures increased.
  
• Herder gather rate adjusted, so the overall income is reduced from +12% → +7% compared to generic un-upgraded Farmers.

Developer Note: The Khitan food economy provided too much early tempo by receiving ~64 food from Sheep in Dark Age, followed by exceptionally efficient Pastures. These changes will adjust the overall food income to be in line with other food bonuses in the game, while maintaining the unique strengths and feel of the Pasture economy.

Shu

• War chariot
  
  • Speed increased from 0.8 → 0.9.
    
  • Reload time reduced from 8 → 6.5.

Wei

• Gain access to Gold Shaft Mining.
  
• Xianbei Raider
  
  • Attack increased from 4 → 5.
    
  • Charge attack now also shoots the main projectile with 5 damage, in addition to the existing 5 projectiles with 1 damage each.
    
  • Charge attack now properly affected by Parthian Tactics.
• Tuntian
  
  • Food generation per soldier increased from 1.2 food/minute → 1.8 food/minute.
    
  • Cost adjusted from 250 food 300 gold → 250 food 300 wood.

Ongoing...

Investigation

As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates.

For other known issues, please visit this page[support.ageofempires.com] to see what’s being tracked!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Today we are thrilled to announce that Age of Empires is partnering with the world’s most-visited museum, the Louvre in Paris!

On April 30th, the Louvre launched an exhibition on the Mamluk sultanate (1250-1517), a European first. The exhibition aims to share the story of this golden age of the Islamic Near East, showcasing its breadth and richness, all told from a transregional perspective. The Mamluks appear in three Age of Empires titles and players around the world have discovered their prowess and story through our games since 1999.

With a shared passion for history at its heart, this collaboration between Age of Empires and the Louvre serves to share the story of the Mamluks to people around the world and encourage them to learn more about this golden age of medieval history, which isn’t often told.

Throughout the month of June, we’ll be collaborating both at the museum in Paris and online. For an overview of our collaboration, check our dedicated webpage.

[www.ageofempires.com]

You’ll be able to experience content from the partnership at the museum, on our websites, on social media and via the first ever livestream from the museum, on June 12th, starting at 11:00 AM PT (2:00 PM ET / 18:00 UTC).[www.twitch.tv]

We are so honored to be working with the Louvre, we share a passion for sharing the stories of history with the world

World’s Edge is honored to collaborate with Le Louvre. The Age of Empires franchise has been bringing history to life for more than 65 million players around the world for almost 30 years. We’ve always believed in the great potential for our games to spark an interest in history and culture. We often hear of teachers using Age of Empires to teach history to their students and stories from our players about how Age of Empires has driven them to learn more, or even to pursue history academically or as a career. This opportunity to bring the amazing stories of the Mamluks to new audiences through the Louvre’s exhibition is one we’re excited to be a part of. We hope that through the excellent work of the Louvre’s team, the legacy of the Mamluks can be shared around the world, and that people enjoy their stories as they come to life through Age of Empires.
— Michael Mann, Studio Head at World’s Edge

The Mamluks have been an iconic part of the Age of Empires franchise since Age of Empires II (1999). Players today can experience these mighty warriors in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, and in Age of Empires IV (via the best-selling Sultans Ascend DLC).

There’s more information about how you can play as the Mamluks in Age games on our partnership webpage[www.ageofempires.com].

To celebrate the partnership, we’re releasing a brand new custom scenario for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on PC, “Ayn Jalut”. Created by World’s Edge Senior Business Manager, and famed Age campaign designer, Ramsey Abdulrahim. In this scenario, you play as Baybars before the pivotal battle when the fate of the Muslim world held in the balance. Prepare your forces, set up your ambushes, and use your cunning and strategy to overcome the Mongol horde. Like the Mamluks, can you be the first to defeat the Mongols?

When finished, try again and best your friends for the highest score!

[www.ageofempires.com]

[www.ageofempires.com]

The entire world trembled before the Mongols. Rulers of China and Persia, the fearsome horsemen swept through the cities of the Islamic world, leaving ruins. Only Baybars and the Mamluks of Egypt stood in their way. Baybars had gathered an army at Ayn Jalut, the site where the Biblical David slew the giant Goliath. Baybars had been born a thousand miles away, but he knew the Mongols well: they had slaughtered his family and sold him–as a mere boy–into slavery. At Ayn Jalut, he was determined to have his revenge–and slay his own giant.

The Mamluks, freed slave-soldiers of primarily Turkish (and later Caucasian) origin, built their legend on their military prowess. They conquered the last bastions of the Crusaders, fought and repelled the Mongols, survived Timur’s invasions and kept threatening neighbors at bay, before succumbing to Ottoman expansion. The sultanate encompassed a vast territory, including Egypt, Bilad al-Sham (modern day Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Jordan), parts of Eastern Anatolia and the Hejaz region of Arabia, which includes Mecca and Medina.

The exhibition takes visitors beyond the military legend of the Mamluk sultanate and shows the complex and multi-faceted society they formed. They created a world in which sultans mingled with emirs and rich civil elites, all actively engaging in artistic patronage. Women had active roles in Mamluk society, as well as Christian and Jewish minorities. At the meeting point of Europe, Africa and Asia, people and ideas circulated, as well as arts and trade.

The exhibition is an unprecedented opportunity to discover this glorious and yet little-known empire, through a collection of masterpieces from around the world. Visitors will be exposed to a new perspective on medieval Egypt and the Near East.

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum[forums.ageofempires.com]
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord[discord.gg]

Game

Audio

• Fixed an issue in the file path separators that caused sound mods to stop working.

Multiplayer

• Fixed an issue where World RNG could be called during the match loading screen in Arabia, causing players to instantly desync as soon as the game would start.

Ongoing...

Investigation

As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates.

For other known issues, please visit this page[support.ageofempires.com] to see what’s being tracked!

What's on the Horizon?

Coming Up...

Hey Community!

With this latest update we’re primarily addressing some server requirements that don’t have a visible impact on your play experience, but we did want to make specific mention of the desyncs in MP that you’ve been reporting. These are bugs that we’re actively monitoring and working on, so please keep reporting these errors if you’re running into them. We simply want to assure you that this is of high importance to us, and we’ll be delivering fixes if they’re needed until any problems that may exist are eliminated.

Thank you so much for your patience!

—The Age II: DE Team

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

1. Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.2. Select "Properties…" at the bottom of the menu.3. Select the "Betas" tab on the left.4. In the "Beta Participation" dropdown menu, select pup_may.5. The build will begin downloading—once complete, you are ready to play!

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

[www.ageofempires.com]

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum[forums.ageofempires.com]🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord[discord.gg]

Game

Stability & Performance

• Fixed a crash affecting players using narration on specific languages.
  
• Fixed a crash on Xbox when aging up in Return of Rome.
  
• Fixed a crash on PS5 that could happen during gameplay and when loading the main menu.

Graphics

• Jurchen Monks and Monasteries now use East Asian graphics.

UI

• Changed the interface style for Khitans to Nomadic.
  
• Fixed several instances where the availability of technologies in the technology tree was not displayed correctly.
  
• Units with charge attack types no longer display the charge bonuses on their interface when targeting objects that their charge does not apply against.
  
• The attack of the charge projectile is now displayed in the UI for units with projectile charge types which are fully charged and not currently attacking objects that the charge doesn’t apply against.
  
• Fixed an issue where Donjons had incorrect armor display in Imperial Age.

Xbox

• Human players appearing in recorded Multiplayer screen statistics will now correctly display their icons, and can be interacted with (such as to mute or see their profiles), like in a live game.
  
• Fixed an issue where Serjeants would appear trainable in Dark Age at the Donjon.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Villager Priority System did not properly count Pastures for Khitans.
  
• Non-functional farm commands are no longer present in the Mill interface for Khitans.

PlayStation

• Fixed an issue with held keys when using Mouse and Keyboard.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

[www.ageofempires.com]

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.
For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum[forums.ageofempires.com]
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord[discord.gg]

Build Spotlight

New DLC! The Three Kingdoms

Dive into China’s epic world of The Three Kingdoms, where history and legend collide in a battle for supremacy – available now on Steam!

The Three Kingdoms introduces five fascinating new civilizations, each with their own unique units and technologies: the Shu, Wei, and Wu, who represent the legendary Three Kingdoms; and the Jurchens and Khitans, who exemplify the struggle for power in northern China beyond the Three Kingdoms period.

[www.ageofempires.com]

Build 143191

Stability & Performance

• Fixed a crash occurring when loading a Victors & Vanquished: Finehair saved game.
  
• Fixed various stability issues.

Xbox

• Fixed a crash happening when loading a Chronicles: Battle for Greece Grand Campaign saved game.
  
• Fixed issue where the performance decreased after repeatedly opening and closing the Chat or Diplomacy menus.
  
• Fixed issue where players were unable to invite friends to a private lobby via Xbox invitations.

Gameplay Fixes

• Rocket carts can no longer fire more volleys than intended after quickly issuing many attack ground commands.

Build 143421

UI

• Fixed an issue that led to inconsistent display and processing of achieved campaign medals in different parts of the game.

Note: this change affects all campaign progress the way it was displayed in the previous version of the game. Medals will appear one tier higher for any campaign mission that has been completed without cheats.

• Fixed an issue that prevented Armenians and Georgians profile icons from being unlocked and saved for Steam users.

Xbox

• Fixed a crash happening upon entering the Historical Battles screen after obtaining a gold medal (crown) in any scenario.

Ongoing...

Investigation

As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates.

For other known issues, please visit this page[support.ageofempires.com] to see what’s being tracked!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.