Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

The Viking Sagas released on September 22, 2026, adding the Danes, Saxons and Varangians alongside a 15-scenario Harald Hardrada campaign. The Last Chieftains expanded the South American roster, while a substantial naval overhaul reshaped water combat with new ships and technologies.

• The Viking Sagas: The three-part campaign covered The Exiled Prince, The Hard Ruler and The Last Viking, and introduced campaign heroes Harald Hardrada, Halldor Snorrason and Ulf Ospaksson. The expansion also added new regional units, Legendary Treasures, burnt-out buildings and scenario-editor assets.
• The Last Chieftains: The expansion added the Mapuche, Muisca and Tupi, with campaigns centered on Lautaro, Pacanchique and Arariboia. New units included the Bolas Rider, Kona, Guecha Warrior, Temple Guard, Blackwood Archer and Ibirapema Warrior, alongside South American buildings, flora and fauna.
• Naval warfare: The February naval overhaul introduced the Hulk/War Hulk/Carrack line, the Catapult Galleon and four naval technologies. Fishing Ships gained the ability to garrison inside Docks, Trade Cogs received resource-selection options, and ship statistics, speeds and civilization access were reworked.
• Mac support: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched natively on macOS with all expansions included. The Apple Silicon version also brought 4K visuals, a remastered soundtrack and reduced graphics-asset size.
• Stability and multiplayer: The October Update 188329 fixed crashes on Stranded and in custom scenarios, addressed out-of-sync issues and exploits, improved large-group movement around obstructions, and stopped garrisoned units from dying when buildings were destroyed.

Chronicles: Alexander the Great released on October 14 with an 18-scenario grand campaign chronicling Alexander’s life and three civilizations: Macedonians, Thracians, and Puru. Its customizable campaign army, which unlocked 16 bonus units and four technologies, complemented new mechanics such as fortified outposts, phalangites, and war elephants. This followed The Three Kingdoms, released in May with five civilizations and three campaigns based on China’s history.

• Chronicles: Alexander the Great: The expansion added five campaign difficulty settings, 13 original music tracks, and new siege-unit visuals. Its campaign also featured locations including the siege of Tyre and Alexandria Eschate.
• The Three Kingdoms: Shu, Wei, Wu, Jurchens, and Khitans joined the roster, while campaigns followed Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and the Sun Clan. A June balance pass strengthened Fire Lancers and Jurchens Grenadiers, reworked Wei’s Tuntian and Xianbei Raiders, and reduced Khitans’ food advantage.
• Chronicles: Battle for Greece: The November 2024 launch added a 21-scenario campaign, the Achaemenids, Athenians, and Spartans, plus a naval overhaul with six military ship types including ramming and catapult ships. Existing players received any of the three included legacy DLCs they did not already own.
• Maps and access: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on PlayStation 5, and nine official maps were added. The game also expanded its Random Map Scripting, Scenario Editor, and modding tools.
• Multiplayer and campaign reliability: Arabia desync issues were resolved, PlayStation crossplay desyncs were mitigated, and November’s fixes addressed crashes in the Alexander the Great campaign, Prithviraj 3, older save files, Xbox input, and PlayStation 5 memory handling.

Victors and Vanquished released on March 14, 2024, adding 19 fully voiced single-player scenarios, new mechanics, music, and achievements. Chronicles: Battle for Greece was announced for November 14, 2024, but its 21-scenario campaign and classical-era systems had not shipped within this window.

• Victors and Vanquished: The expansion combined 14 updated UGC-inspired scenarios with five new scenarios featuring characters such as Ragnar Lothbrok and Oda Nobunaga. The Charlemagne scenario added Imperial Age progression, while the Four Scholars—Alcuin of York, Theodulf of Orléans, Paul the Deacon, and Petrus Grammaticus—became objectives to find.
• Chronicles: Battle for Greece: The announced expansion featured the Achaemenids, Athenians, and Spartans in campaigns covering Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. Its planned overhaul included customizable Town Centers, government policies, Oysters as a sea-based gold resource, and six military ship classes including Lemboi, Ramming Ships, Catapult Ships, and Leviathans.
• The Siege: This limited-time scenario launched around the 1453 Siege of Constantinople, supporting 2v2, co-op against AI, and solo play as the Turks or Byzantines.
• Return of Rome: The DLC received the new Glory of Greece and Voices of Babylon campaigns, expanding its single-player offering.
• Empire Wars: The 1v1 Empire Wars ladder returned in October, replacing the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado ladder. April’s gameplay improvements also extended Auto Scout to all scouting units and added automatic farm placement around Mills and Town Centers.
• Dunesprings, Golden Stream, and Karsts: Map-generation changes reduced trapped villagers and adjusted starting resources, relic distribution, elevation scaling, and map-size behavior. Multiplayer desync handling also improved by dropping only the out-of-sync player instead of ending the match for everyone.

Return of Rome launched as a major expansion, adding 17 civilizations, three fully voiced campaigns, and the D3 competitive mode. The Mountain Royals followed on October 31 with the Georgians, Armenians, three campaigns, and a substantial Persian rework, giving returning players two major content drops to revisit.

• Return of Rome: Added the Romans and Lac Viet to the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition experience, alongside the D3 ruleset, classic-inspired gameplay systems, new technologies, and campaigns for Sargon of Akkad, Pyrrhus of Epirus, and Trajan.
• The Mountain Royals: Introduced the Georgian and Armenian civilizations and the fully voiced Tamar, Thoros the Great, and Ismail campaigns. The Persian overhaul added the Savar unique unit plus the Kamandaran and Citadels technologies.
• Return of Rome campaigns: Added Ascent of Egypt, a 12-scenario tutorial campaign, and The First Punic War, a three-scenario campaign focused on Carthage’s conflict with Rome. The Romans also became available in ranked play in June.
• Civilization and combat changes: Persians received stronger starting resources, faster Town Centers and Docks, Castle Age access to Parthian Tactics, and improved War Elephants; cavalry gained 5 gold for each enemy military unit killed. The update also removed Random Walk from elephants and improved pathfinding.
• Events and rewards: Minecraft Legends brought Piglins, Creepers, a Creeper transformation mod, a cubic companion, and profile icons, while Star Age added a night-sky ocean mod and three profile icons.

Dynasties of India launched on April 28, adding three fully voiced campaigns—Babur, Rajendra, and Devapala—and three civilizations—Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras. Hindustanis became available without purchasing the expansion, while Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tamerlane, Alaric, and Saladin expanded cooperative play alongside the 25th Anniversary Event.

• Dynasties of India: The expansion added unique units, technologies, and bonuses for the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras, plus 23 achievements. The Dynasties of India Event also ran from April 28 to May 13 with themed challenges and rewards.
• Co-op campaigns:
  • Tariq ibn Ziyad and Tamerlane: Two new cooperative campaigns were introduced in November 2021.
  • Alaric and Saladin: Two additional cooperative campaigns were added in January 2022, with updated AI and story-driven historical battles.
• Ranked play:
  • Matchmaking Queue and Quick Play: New matchmaking options expanded ranked play and quick games against AI.
  • Ranked Death Match: Custom lobbies gained ranked Death Match support.
  • Ranked Map Pool Voting: Players could vote on ranked maps, while the February rotation added more than 20 maps, including Acropolis, Cenotes, and Water Nomad.
• Team Game Elo and Optimized Art Asset Files: Hundreds of Balance Changes encouraged greater unit and civilization variety. July’s Team Game Elo recalculation reduced rating inflation and applied a one-time correction that lowered most team ratings, while the August Optimized Art Asset Files update reduced installation size by 20 GB.
• 25th Anniversary Event: The October 25 celebration added time-limited challenges and rewards through November 8, following seasonal events including Penguin Party, Dress to Impress, and Sun Festival.

Dawn of the Dukes released on August 10, 2021, adding the Poles and Bohemians, three campaigns, and units such as the Obuch, Winged Hussar, Hussite Wagon, and Houfnice. Lords of the West had already arrived on January 26 with the Burgundians, Sicilians, and three additional campaigns.

• Dawn of the Dukes: Added Algirdas and Kestutis, Jadwiga, and Jan Zizka, alongside the Poles’ Obuch, Winged Hussar, and Folwark, and the Bohemians’ Hussite Wagon and Houfnice.
• Lords of the West: Added Edward Longshanks, The Grand Dukes of the West, and The Hautevilles campaigns, while the Burgundians and Sicilians introduced the Coustillier, Serjeant, Burgundian Vineyards, Flemish Revolution, First Crusade, and Scutage.
• New modes and multiplayer:
  • Co-op launched in July, following a Public Update Preview that tested Tours, Hastings, Honfoglalas, Kurikara, and Bapheus as cooperative Historical Battles.
  • Empire Wars introduced matches that began in the Feudal Age instead of requiring the traditional early-game buildup.
  • Custom Ranked DM added ELO-enabled Deathmatch lobbies with custom maps, team support, and host-controlled ELO limits.
  • Battle Royale added an eight-player free-for-all mode.
• Balance and tools: The November 17 balance pass adjusted 19 civilizations and 15 maps; subsequent changes retuned the Burgundian Coustillier, Sicilian First Crusade and Scutage, and Flemish Revolution. The Scenario Editor also gained new triggers and .xs scripting support.
• Events and access: The November Anniversary Event added challenge rewards, while the Lords of the West Event temporarily gave all players access to the Burgundians and Sicilians. Jungle Summer Vacation and the Halloween October Event added further themed challenges and unlockables.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on November 14, 2019, delivering four new civilizations, three campaigns, remastered graphics, new music and sound, and cross-play. It later added Battle Royale and Capture Age integration, expanding both multiplayer and spectating.

• Battle Royale and Capture Age: Battle Royale supported up to eight players in a last-combatant-standing free-for-all; Capture Age brought high-contrast minimap views, real-time statistics, per-unit kills, and tournament scoreboard access.
• Ranked Map Pools and Map Ban System: Matchmaking became more configurable and community-driven.
  • Map Ban System: Players could ban maps in ranked matches.
  • Ranked Map Pools: 1v1, Team Game, 1v1 Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch received separate pools with community voting and biweekly rotations.
  • Auto Scouting: The feature expanded from starting Scouts to all horse and camel Scout variants.
• Four Lakes, Golden Swamp, and Land Nomad: The map roster gained new competitive battlefields.
  • Four Lakes and Golden Swamp: Both maps were added to the game’s map pools.
  • Land Nomad: This new battlefield entered the Ranked Team Game pool and unranked matches.
  • Barbarossa Brawl: The wave-defense challenge scenario launched alongside four new Art of War missions.
• Cumans, Steppe Lancers, and civilization balance: Several major balance passes reshaped faction matchups.
  • Cumans and Steppe Lancers: Both received early balance adjustments.
  • Bulgarians and Persians: Bulgarians lost access to Paladins, while Persian Town Centers gained a revised Feudal Age work-speed bonus.
  • Aztecs, Elephant Archers, and Hussars: Aztec military training, Elephant Archer reload time and cost, and Hussar attack animation were all adjusted.
• Lunar New Year, Spring Celebration, and Teutons events: Seasonal challenges added profile icons, visual mods, skins, and scenarios, while Summer World Tour introduced daily civilization-focused challenges and rewards.