What changed in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in 2021

New community-selected maps for team games include ARABIA, ARENA, BALTIC, BLACK FOREST, LOMBARDIA, MEGARANDOM, MOUNTAIN RANGE, NOMAD, and RUNESTONES.

Introduction of new map pools for 1v1 and team games as part of the ranked map rotation.

New community-selected maps for 1v1 ranked play include ARABIA, ARENA, GOLDEN PIT, LAND MADNESS, LAND NOMAD, RUNESTONES, and TEAM ISLANDS.

Complete a series of challenges to earn exclusive rewards, including profile icons and a decoration.

Players must sign into Xbox Live to save rewards unlocked during the event.

Unlock profile icons and a Town Center decoration by completing in-game tasks during the event.

Celebrate the holidays with unique rewards and challenges from December 14th to January 4th.

Unit upgrade particle effects replaced with rays of sunlight during the event.

New maps for 1v1 ranked play include ARABIA, ARENA, FORTRESS, FOUR LAKES, HABOOB, MIGRATION, and RUNESTONES.

New maps for team games include AMAZON TUNNEL, ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, GOLD RUSH, LAND NOMAD, MEGARANDOM, NOMAD, and NORTHERN ISLES.

New set of maps available for ranked play from November 30 to December 14.

Complete in-game tasks to unlock exclusive rewards including Player Profile Icons and Mod event rewards from 2020.

Celebrate the second anniversary with new challenges and rewards from November 18 to December 1.

Made updates to the Arabia map for improved gameplay.

Added a handicap system to allow players to adjust difficulty in custom lobbies.

Introduced new skins for trade carts based on regions.

Added a new matchmaking option for quick play against AI.

Added new cheat codes for players to use.

New community map picks for 1v1 ranked matches include AFRICAN CLEARING, ARABIA, ARENA, ATACAMA, and MEGARANDOM.

Implemented various balance changes specifically targeting infantry units.

New community map picks for team games include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, FORTRESS, and MEGARANDOM.

Introduction of new maps for the ranked play period from November 16 to November 30.

Introduced campaigns featuring Tariq ibn Ziyad and Tamerlane.

Celebrating the second anniversary with challenges and rewards from November 17 through December 1.

Implemented a feature to preview the tech tree within the game.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour prior to the maintenance window.

Players can launch the game but cannot access online features during the maintenance window.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

The team game map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Ghost Lake, Hill Fort, Lombardia, MegaRandom, and Nomad.

Introduction of a new set of maps for the ranked play from November 2 to November 16.

The 1v1 map pool features Arabia, Arena, Four Lakes, Golden Pit, Hideout, Socotra, and Valley.

Players can engage in multiplayer matches or skirmish against AI.

A reduced difficulty mode allows players to focus on the historical journey.

A breakdown of hotkeys is available for easy reference.

The game features four campaigns for players to engage with.

Age of Empires IV is now available on Steam, marking the first new numbered title in 16 years.

Players can choose from eight different civilizations in Age of Empires IV.

A tutorial guides new players through foundational skills.

Mongols can move their entire civilization across the map and choose landmarks for bonuses.

Archers can be positioned on walls and units can use stealth forests for ambushes.

New challenges to refine skills and earn medals are available in Single Player.

New community map picks for 1v1 games include Aftermath, Arabia, Arena, Gold Rush, Islands, Nomad, and Runestone.

New community map picks for team games include Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Coastal Forest, Golden Pit, Hideout, Kawasan, Nomad, and Team Island.

New set of maps for 1v1 and team games available from October 19 to November 2.

Routine server updates and maintenance on October 20, 2021, affecting matchmaking servers.

Sign into Xbox Live to keep all rewards unlocked during the event.

Research the Paladin technology in the Stable to unlock rewards.

1v1 Community Map Picks include Acropolis, Arabia, Archipelago, Arena, Ghost Lake, Marketplace, and Socotra.

Slay two boars in a single match to unlock the Gravestone profile icon.

New set of maps for 1v1 and team games based on developer picks and community votes.

Unlock three new Halloween-themed profile icons.

Train 100 units in a single match to unlock the Town Center Scarecrow decoration.

Research the Crop Rotation technology in the Mill to unlock rewards.

Farm graphics replaced with Pumpkin patch farms during the event.

Kill 500 units in any amount of matches to unlock the Knight with Halloween style pumpkin head.

Unlock a Decoration for the Town Center during the Halloween event.

Celebrate Halloween with new in-game tasks and rewards.

Team Game Community Map Picks include Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Hill Fort, Islands, MegaRandom, Nomad, Scandinavia, and Valley.

Unlock a knight with a Halloween style pumpkin head.

Unlock Halloween-themed rewards from October 5 to October 31.

Fixed a crash affecting players at game start or when loading into matches.

Resolved an issue with accessing the Edward Longshanks, Grand Dukes, and The Hautevilles Campaigns.

New set of maps available for ranked play from September 21 to October 5.

New community-selected maps for team games include ARABIA, ARENA, BALTIC, BLACK FOREST, HIDEOUT, LOMBARDIA, MEGARANDOM, NOMAD, and RUNESTONES.

New community-selected maps for 1v1 ranked play include ARABIA, ARENA, FOUR LAKES, GOLDEN PIT, MEGARANDOM, RUNESTONES, and TEAM ISLANDS.

Routine server updates and maintenance for matchmaking servers on September 10.

Introduction of new maps for 1v1 and team game ranked play.

Resolved a bug that prevented lobby query results from being returned when more than 5 filters were applied.

Fixed a crash issue that occurred when changing the language in the options menu.

New community-selected maps for 1v1 ranked play include AFRICAN CLEARING, ARABIA, ARENA, GOLD RUSH, HIDEOUT, LOWLANDS, and MIGRATION.

New community-selected maps for team game ranked play include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, FOUR LAKES, MEGARANDOM, NOMAD, OASIS, PACIFIC ISLANDS, and RING FORTRESS.

Fixed a bug that caused no results to be returned when the server filter was set to 'australiasoutheast'.

An aggressive map where players start on an island surrounded by water, promoting early pressure.

A map with walled-off bases that are easily breakable, providing a unique gameplay experience.

The conclusion of the Empire Wars Duo 2 tournament featuring a $20,000 prize pool.

A brand new map specifically created for Empire Wars Duo 2, featuring defendable starting bases and gold deposits.

Players can launch the game but cannot access online features during the maintenance window.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour prior to the maintenance window.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

New set of maps for 1v1 and team games available for the next two weeks.

New community map picks for team games include African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, and Eruption.

New community map picks for 1v1 include Acropolis, Arabia, Arena, Golden Swamp, and Runestones.

Unlock a tasty new Trebuchet projectile during the event.

Sign in to Xbox Live during the event to keep all mods and profile icons earned.

Complete in-game tasks to unlock exclusive goodies during the event.

Unlock three new Jungle-Adventure profile icons.

Reach the Feudal Age in 14 minutes or faster in any one game to unlock a profile icon.

Join the Jungle Summer Vacation event featuring new jungle-themed treasures and challenges.

Construct 6 Trebuchets in any one game to unlock a special projectile.

Play a Skirmish or Multiplayer match on the 'Amazon Tunnel' map, which replaces all birds with Macaws.

Play a Skirmish or Multiplayer match as the Aztecs, Incas, or Mayans to unlock the Amazon Archer visual replacement.

Unlock the Amazon Archer visual replacement for the Arbalester.

New community map picks for team games include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, FORTRESS, LOMBARDIA, LOWLAND, MEGARANDOM, NOMAD, TEAM ISLANDS.

Reload time lowered from 2.3 to 2.0.

Speed of Bullet projectiles increased from 5.5 to 7.5.

The second expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is now available.

New campaigns featuring Algirdas and Kestutis, Jadwiga, and Jan Zizka.

New set of maps available for ranked play from August 10 to August 24.

Adjusted several AI player controlled civilizations in various campaign missions for better historical accuracy.

The Poles civilization introduced with unique units and technologies.

New achievements available for players to earn on Steam.

Optimized the AI players’ strategic decision-making in various areas.

Added new flags to control the blast damage style.

Two new terrain types: Birch Forest and Swamp.

Fixed an issue where terrain ambience tracks other than Forest ambience would fail to play.

Experience new gameplay with the Poles and Bohemians civilizations.

The Bohemians civilization introduced with unique units and technologies.

Hitpoints increased from 35 to 40.

Celebrate with a new event to unlock awesome rewards.

New community map picks for 1v1 matches include ARABIA, ARENA, ATACAMA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, GREEN LAND, MEGARANDOM.

Herbal Medicine cost reduced from 350g to 200g.

Addressed multiple crash issues related to control groups, multiplayer lobbies, and custom scenarios.

A number of balance updates to gameplay, civilizations, and maps.

Post-game timelines now properly align players with their own graph, sorted by team.

The Bohemians feature the Hussite Wagon and Houfnice unique units.

The second expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is now available for pre-order.

New campaigns featuring the Lithuanians and Poles, and the Bohemians.

The Poles feature the Obuch infantry unit, Winged Hussar cavalry unit, and the Folwark building.

New achievements to earn on Xbox or Steam accounts.

Introducing the Poles, a cavalry civilization, and the Bohemians, a gunpowder and monk civilization, each with unique units and technologies.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour before the maintenance window.

Routine server updates and maintenance for matchmaking servers.

Players can launch the game but cannot access matchmaking or online features during maintenance.

Any matches in progress will be disrupted when the maintenance begins.

The team game map pool includes ARABIA, ARENA, BALTIC, BLACK FOREST, and HIDEOUT.

Introduction of new maps for the 1v1 and team game map pools based on developer picks and community votes.

The 1v1 map pool includes ARABIA, ARENA, CRATER, HIDEOUT, and ISLANDS.

New community-selected maps for team games include Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Golden Pit, and Hill Fort.

New set of maps available for ranked play from July 13 to July 27.

New community-selected maps for 1v1 ranked play include Acropolis, African Clearing, Arabia, Archipelago, Arena, Four Lakes, and Gold Rush.

Flemish Revolution cost increased from 800f 450g to 1200f 650g.

Co-Op is now live, allowing players to engage in cooperative gameplay.

Elite Boyar receives +2 melee armor, increasing from 6 to 8.

Training time for (Elite) War Elephants decreased by 6 seconds.

Introduced new Co-op versions of Historical Battles.

Hand Cannoneer accuracy increased from 65% to 75%.

Flemish Militia no longer deal 2 bonus damage vs buildings.

Fixed issues where graphics would sometimes disappear or flicker in long games.

Unlock profile icons by completing specific challenges during the event.

A unique event allowing all players to access the Burgundians and Sicilians civilizations from July 6 to July 20.

Enhanced functionality for drag selecting and giving commands to units.

Celebrate July with access to the Burgundians and Sicilians civilizations for all players.

Added UI support for CaptureAge in Spectate and Replay menus.

Complete in-game tasks to unlock exclusive rewards including profile icons and unique statues.

Earn a statue of a Coustillier and find Sand Donjons on beach terrain through event challenges.

Numerous fixes to reduce the likelihood of freezes or crashes.

Sign in to Xbox Live to keep all mods and profile icons earned during the event.

Eleven new maps featured in Red Bull Wololo 4 have been added to the map pool.

Lobby creators can choose any map for Ranked games, including Michi.

The new 1v1 map pool includes Arabia, Arena, Atacama, Land Nomad, Megarandom, Mongolia, and Team Islands.

Hosts can limit the ELOs of players joining their Custom Ranked DM matches.

Saved and restored matches will convert to unranked.

If successful, ranked ELO features may be added to more game modes based on community feedback.

Custom Ranked DM matches can be played as either 1v1 or team games.

The new team game map pool includes Amazon Tunnel, Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Coastal Forest, Islands, Megarandom, Nomad, and Yucatan.

New functionality in the lobby system allowing Deathmatch players to compete for ELO with familiar settings.

The new 1v1 deathmatch map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, and Golden Pit.

All current Deathmatch rankings will be transferred to the new custom lobby system.

The new team deathmatch map pool includes Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, and Golden Swamp.

Routine server updates and maintenance for matchmaking servers.

33 Co-Op Campaign Missions from 6 different Campaigns are planned for future release.

AI players have been updated to fight against two opponents instead of one in Co-Op mode.

A Co-Op button has been added to the Main Menu UI for easier access.

Players can provide feedback on Co-Op mode through the Steam forum during the Public Update Preview.

New community map picks for 1v1 Deathmatch include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, and GOLDEN PIT.

New community map picks for Team Games include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, FOUR LAKES, and LOMBARDIA.

Instructions provided for accessing Co-Op through the Public Update Preview on Steam.

Introduction of a new set of maps for 1v1, Team Games, 1v1 Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch modes.

Co-Op mode is now playable in the Public Update Preview with 5 Historical Battles.

Players can engage in 5 Co-Op Historical Battles: Tours, Hastings, Honfoglalas, Kurikara, Bapheus.

New community map picks for 1v1 games include ARABIA, ARENA, BALTIC, GHOST LAKE, and GOLDEN PIT.

New community map picks for Team Deathmatch include ARABIA, CENOTES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, and GOLDEN SWAMP.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

Updated 1v1 Deathmatch map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, and Golden Pit.

Introduction of new maps for 1v1, Team Games, and Deathmatch modes.

Updated Team Game map pool includes Arabia, Arena, Baltic, Black Forest, Golden Pit, Hideout, Megrandom, Nomad, and Volcanic Island.

Updated 1v1 map pool includes Arabia, Arena, Four Lakes, Hideout, Islands, Nomad, and Volcanic Island.

Updated Team Deathmatch map pool includes Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, and Golden Swamp.

The new 1v1 map pool includes African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Atacama, Crater, Gold Rush, and Migration.

The new team deathmatch map pool features Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Lombardia, Oasis, and Valley.

The new 1v1 deathmatch map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, and Golden Pit.

The new team game map pool features African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Crater, Crossroads, MegaRandom, Team Islands, and Team Moats.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour prior to the maintenance window.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

Players can launch the game but cannot access matchmaking or online features during maintenance.

Updated 1v1 map pool includes Arabia, Archipelago, Arena, Four Lakes, Golden Pit, MegaRandom, and Socotra.

Unlock a sound replacement for military unit creation during the event.

Updated 1v1 deathmatch map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, and Valley.

Players can unlock the classic 'Photon Man' cheat code during the event.

Updated team deathmatch map pool includes Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Lombardia, Oasis, and Valley.

Unlock various profile icons by completing specific challenges during the event.

Introduction of a new set of maps for the ranked play from May 4 to May 18.

Complete tasks to unlock the 'Imperial Age' achievement in Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition.

Join the Celebrating the Ages event with new challenges and rewards.

Unlock a sound replacement for Age Advancement during the event.

Unlock the 'cameleon' cheat code which transforms all Camel units into Flaming Camels.

Complete tasks to unlock the '21st Century' achievement in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

Updated team game map pool includes Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Coastal Forest, Gold Rush, Migration, Nomad, Oasis, and Valley.

Unlock a new visual replacement for the Hand Cannon during the event.

Fixed an issue where AI players would issue orders repeatedly, causing unit stuttering.

Reduced attack versus cavalry from 12 to 8 and versus camels and ships from 8 to 6.

A new event where players can unlock themed rewards by completing in-game tasks.

Reduced gold cost from 45 to 40 gold.

Numerous fixes to reduce crashes and freezes during gameplay.

Scorpions no longer spawn on Aggressive Stance when the Default Aggressive stance is disabled.

New maps include Crater, Crossroads, Michi, Team Moats, and Volcanic Island.

Increased food generated by Relics from 20 to 30 food/minute.

New option to display building range indicators in the game settings.

Routine server updates and maintenance for matchmaking servers affecting multiple Age of Empires titles.

New community map picks for Team Games include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, FOUR LAKES, and HILL FORT.

New community map picks for Team Deathmatch include ARABIA, CENOTES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, and GOLDEN SWAMP.

New set of maps for 1v1, Team Games, and Deathmatch modes available from April 20 to May 4.

New community map picks for 1v1 games include ARABIA, ARENA, FOUR LAKES, GOLDEN SWAMP, and LOMBARDIA.

New community map picks for 1v1 Deathmatch include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, and GOLDEN PIT.

Players can earn the United States civilization for free by completing the Fifty States Challenge.

Some existing campaigns in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will be playable in two player co-op.

Preview of the Norman Campaign in Age of Empires IV, showcasing documentary-style storytelling and gameplay.

Reveal of the Chinese civilization in Age of Empires IV, including unique buildings and musical theme.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition will introduce the United States civilization on April 13.

Announcement of an upcoming Closed Beta for Age of Empires IV for Age of Empires Insiders.

First look at the Delhi Sultanate civilization in Age of Empires IV, featuring buildings, units, and elephants.

Announcement of the second official DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with an Eastern European setting.

New community map picks for 1v1 games include Acropolis, Arabia, Arena, Ghost Lake, and Gold Rush.

Introduction of new maps for 1v1, Team Game, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch modes.

New community map picks for Team Deathmatch include Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, and Golden Swamp.

New community map picks for 1v1 Deathmatch include Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, and Golden Pit.

New community map picks for Team Games include Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Budapest, and Hideout.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

Includes Princess Yodit, Jimena, and Sikelgaita.

Celebrate Women's History Month with new in-game tasks and rewards.

Unlock the Princess Yodit visual replacement during the event.

Unlock the Queen visual replacement during the event.

Transforms all your Villagers into Flemish Militia.

Fixed an issue where units could path through walls to attack enemy units.

Fixed a visual issue where the reward text of event mods appeared off-center in the completion notifications.

Fixed an issue where allied building foundations yet to begin construction were visible in the fog of war.

New community map picks include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, and GOLD RUSH.

New community map picks include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, and GOLDEN PIT.

New community map picks include AFRICAN CLEARING, ARABIA, ARENA, ATACAMA, and FOUR LAKES.

Improved performance when playing a scenario with a large number of triggers.

Fixed a rare crash triggered by multiple players spamming taunts simultaneously in a Custom Lobby.

Introduction of new maps for 1v1, Team Game, 1v1 Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch pools.

Unlock the 'grab your pitchforks' cheat code transforming Villagers into Flemish Militia.

The Burgundian and Sicilian articles in the History compendium now play the correct background tracks.

The post-game menu can now be navigated using the keyboard.

Fixed a crash that could occur when returning to the ranked lobby following the Benchmark Test.

Unlock the Queen visual replacement for the King unit and the Princess Yodit visual replacement for the Gbeto.

Fixed a variety of crashes triggered during gameplay.

Celebrate influential women in history with themed challenges and rewards from March 24 to April 14.

Fixed a unique out-of-sync error triggered by placing a building foundation over another player’s unexplored building.

Updated the tooltips of fortifications to clarify which types of units increase the number of projectiles fired when garrisoned.

No more black terrain tiles in the Scenario Editor.

New community map picks include ARABIA, CENOTES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, and GOLDEN SWAMP.

Games scheduled for March 13 at 20:00 UTC and March 14 at 14:00 UTC.

The first official women's-only 1v1 event featuring a $5,000 prize pool.

New community map picks for team deathmatch include ARABIA, CENOTES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, GOLDEN SWAMP, KILIMANJARO, LOMBARDIA, OASIS, and VALLEY.

Routine server updates and maintenance for matchmaking servers.

New community map picks for 1v1 deathmatch include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, GOLDEN SWAMP, KILIMANJARO, SERENGETI, and VALLEY.

New community map picks for 1v1 ranked games include ARABIA, ARENA, GOLDEN PIT, HIDEOUT, MEGARANDOM, MIGRATION, and NOMAD.

New community map picks for team games include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, COASTAL FOREST, FORTRESS, GHOST LAKE, NOMAD, OASIS, and SCANDINAVIA.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour before the maintenance window.

New set of maps available for ranked play from March 9 to March 23.

Players can launch the game but cannot access online features during the maintenance window.

The initial build of the Public Update Preview contains a number of bug fixes.

Introducing a new experimental program allowing players to access upcoming game content in development.

Updated team game map pool includes African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Black Forest, Four Lakes, Lombardia, MegaRandom, Migration, and Ravines.

Updated 1v1 deathmatch map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, and Valley.

Updated 1v1 map pool includes Acropolis, Arabia, Arena, Atacama, Fortress, Four Lakes, and Islands.

New set of maps available for ranked play from February 23 to March 9.

Updated team deathmatch map pool includes Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Lombardia, Oasis, and Valley.

Unlock three new AI-themed profile icons during the event.

New visual effects for research completion in buildings.

Winning against a Moderate AI replaces arrows with laser beams.

Join the Comp-Stomp-Extravaganza to challenge the AI and unlock rewards.

The standard AI now recognizes accomplishments in skirmish matches.

Updated how the game utilizes CPU and GPU resources to avoid taxing systems not running Vsync.

Now awards gold to each ally based on the size of their own military rather than the military count of the researching player.

Reduced charge damage from +35 to +25 for Coustillier and from +40 to +30 for Elite Coustillier.

On Nomad-style maps, the first Town Center to be built no longer benefits from the Sicilian construction speed bonus.

Fixed an issue which would prevent the construction of Gates due to a failed obstruction check.

Buildings can no longer be overlapped when you can't see the enemy's structure.

The tech tree now displays the correct health values of units and buildings.

Building foundations can once again be placed over unexplored areas as long as it includes some area that has been explored.

Adjustments made to the Burgundian Coustillier and to Sicilian bonuses and unique technologies.

The civilization’s resistance to bonus damage is no longer applied to siege weapons.

Villagers will no longer fight back against Feudal Age Scout Cavalry or Castle Age Eagle Scouts when not ordered to do so.

Villagers will now automatically move to finish nearby buildings placed in the fog of war when finished with their current project.

Reduced the number of Serjeants spawned per Town Center from 10 to 7.

New community map picks for team games include Amazon Tunnel, Arabia, Arena, Atacama, and Black Forest.

New set of maps for ranked play from February 9 to February 23.

New maps for 1v1 deathmatch include Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, and Golden Pit.

New community map picks for 1v1 matches include African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Atacama, and Baltic.

New maps for team deathmatch include Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, and Golden Swamp.

Unlock Fireworks for your Research Complete and Building Upgrades.

Unlock a New Year Celebration Scene for your Town Center.

Unlock a new Age Up Celebration with Fireworks and Cheering.

Unlock three new Celebratory Profile Icons during the event.

Join the Age of Empires II: DE 2021 New Year Celebration with new rewards and challenges.

Routine server updates and maintenance affecting matchmaking servers.

Players will be able to launch the game but cannot access matchmaking or online features during maintenance.

Ranked matchmaking will be disabled one hour prior to the maintenance to prevent disruption.

Steps taken to resolve issues with Lords of the West achievements being awarded without completing requirements.

Fixed an exploit which would result in the Lithuanian Relic bonus stacking beyond the +4 cap.

Fixed an exploit which allowed users to delete enemy walls using Tower, Donjon, and Gate foundations.

Fixed an out of sync error triggered by placing building foundations over enemy units or buildings hidden by the fog of war.

The new 1v1 map pool includes African Clearing, Arabia, Archipelago, Arena, Atacama, Coastal Forest, and Seize the Mountain.

A campaign focusing on Edward I of England.

New achievements related to the Lords of the West expansion.

A campaign about the Hauteville family in Italy.

The Lords of the West expansion introduces two new civilizations and three new campaigns.

The new team game map pool features African Clearing, Arabia, Arena, Atacama, Baltic, Black Forest, Coastal Forest, Megarandom, and The Mountain.

The Team Deathmatch map pool has been updated to include Arabia, Cenotes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Lombardia, Oasis, and Valley.

The Burgundians civilization features unique bonuses, units, and technologies.

The Sicilians civilization includes unique bonuses, units, and technologies.

A campaign centered around the Burgundian dukes.

The 1v1 Deathmatch map pool now includes Acropolis, Arabia, Four Lakes, Ghost Lake, Golden Pit, Golden Swamp, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, and Valley.

Numerous improvements made to AI and pathfinding.

Various balance changes made to multiple civilizations, including hit point reductions and technology adjustments.

New maps include African Clearing, Amazon Tunnel, Atacama, Coastal Forest, and Seize the Mountain.

Fixed crashes related to exiting the profile screen and Battle Royale mode.

Owners of the Lords of the West expansion get early access to the Burgundians and Sicilians in multiplayer.

Implemented fixes to address mid-to-late game multiplayer performance setbacks.

The profanity filter now targets specific words rather than the whole sentence.

Join the New Year Celebration and unlock exclusive new icons and mods from January 25 to February 8.

Several UI improvements made to the Battle Royale mode, including timer display and notifications.

Building blueprints can no longer be used to scout terrain without visibility.

Main Event will occur on January 16-17 and 22-24.

New community map picks include ARABIA, ARENA, BLACK FOREST, GOLD RUSH, and LAND NOMAD.

New community map picks include ARABIA, CENOTES, GHOST LAKE, GOLDEN PIT, and GOLDEN SWAMP.

Introduction of new map pools for 1v1, team games, and deathmatch modes.

New community map picks include ARABIA, ARENA, HIDEOUT, NOMAD, and STEPPE.

New community map picks include ACROPOLIS, ARABIA, FOUR LAKES, GHOST LAKE, and GOLDEN PIT.

Players will start in the Feudal Age, skipping the traditional buildup of a match.

Open Qualifiers will take place over the weekends of January 2-3 and 9-10.

Sign-ups are open for the Red Bull Wololo III, featuring a unique Empire Wars game mode starting January 2, 2021.

The tournament will feature 13 new and existing maps for players to compete on.

The tournament series introduces a narrative involving civilizations fighting over a castle with a library.