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Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

Celebrate the Return of Rome By Pre-Ordering Now!



Where were you in 1998? Perhaps listening to Cher’s Believe, watching Titanic, playing with your Tamagotchi and relaxing on your inflatable couch? Or were you playing the Age of Empires DLC The Rise of Rome? This beloved evolution of the first Age of Empires game has taken on a new form and joined the Definitive Edition era in the Return of Rome DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

Yes, you read that correctly, Age of Empires content available in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Bringing the civilizations and action of ancient worlds to AoE II: DE. Purchasers will be able to switch to Return of Rome in the game’s main screen and take on fresh challenges.

[h2]What can you expect from this new and innovative DLC? [/h2]
  • 3 new campaigns created specifically for Return of Rome. Sargon of Akkad (Sumerians), Pyrrhus of Epirus (Macedonians) and Trajan (Romans). With new missions to tackle and stories told through the familiar AoE II: DE style, you’ll be able to live more moments from history.
  • All 16 original Age of Empires civilizations from the Assyrians to the Yamato. Get to grips with the civilizations that started the Age of Empires journey.
  • One new civilization, the Lac Viet. In honor and recognition of Rise of Rome’s phenomenal popularity in Vietnam, we’ve added a new civilization with Return of Rome. Adding something new for established and beginner players.
  • New D3 Game Mode. D3 is an homage to a fan favorite rule set that is now fully integrated into the game.  This rule set reduces rush tactics and allows players to start their early game more robustly, only allowing fighting with a single unit until entering the Bronze Age, ensuring players reach later Ages for equal battles.  This rule set also bans walls and towers, making for exciting match ups later in the game.
  • The Roman civilization will be playable in the main AoE II: DE title. If you’ve ever wondered how the Romans might fare against the Aztecs, now’s your opportunity to find out.

Catch a glimpse of what Return of Rome has to offer in our teaser trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]How to Pre-Order[/h2]
Return of Rome is available to pre-order now on Steam! This innovative DLC is available as a standalone purchase, or as a bundle with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Rome is calling. It’s time to return.
Pre-order the Return of Rome today and be ready to conquer your opponents and forge a new Roman Empire on May 16, 2023!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2141580/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31630/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome_Bundle/

Server Maintenance - Wednesday, April 26



WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 26 @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 21:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]
[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]
  • Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, April 26th, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. Please note:

  • Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.

  • Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.

  • DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

To prevent any interruptions, we recommend wrapping up any games at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window. The downtime is expected to last between 1 and 2 hours. You can watch this thread with any changes to the schedule as they arise, as well as the all-clear when the maintenance is complete.

Thank you for your patience!

Интервью с ведущим геймдизайнером Брэндоном Кастилом: О разработке Tempest Rising, кризисе RTS и наследии Command & Conquer

Последние лет 15 жанр стратегий в реальном времени (RTS) находился в коматозном состоянии. Объяснений происходящему — масса, а диспозиция выглядит следующим образом. Приблизительно в середине 2000-х жанр достиг своего пика и начал стагнировать. Попытки расширить аудиторию и резко увеличить продажи привели к появлению на свет довольно странных экспериментов, которые только отпугнули игроков. 

Celebrate Villagers with Age of Empires IV!



Who doesn’t love the Age of Empires Villagers? You’re in luck – we’ve got a fun event planned to celebrate ALL the Villagers in Age of Empires IV starting today, April 20th through May 18th! So grab your favorite villagers and chop some wood, go mine for gold, or collect food from berry bushes and play some fun challenges and earn exclusive rewards during the Villager Appreciation Celebration Event!





[h2]Login Rewards[/h2]
Plus, just in case you missed them in Seasons One and Two, here’s another chance to earn these login rewards!



[hr][/hr]
We hope you enjoy the Villager Appreciation Celebration Event and are looking forward to the next one!

Don’t forget to keep sharing your feedback on Seasons with us in the forums – we’d love to hear your feedback!

Age of Empires IV – Season Four Patch 6.1.130



Our Enchanted Grove event comes to a close with the release of Patch 6.1.130. We hope you had an enchanting time in the biome but now both the biome and the Enchanted Stag have trotted off to parts unknown.

In this new patch we have listened to your feedback and reverted the resource-gathering boost which was added to the Hardest AI. Instead, we have added multiple additional new levels of AI difficulty beyond the Hardest setting making use of the boosted resource-gathering in those difficulties. We can’t wait to hear your feedback on the new AI Difficulty levels!

There are also improvements to in-game balance, fixes to known issues, and slight tweaks to trade as our team previews some of our larger goals with that mechanic – read more below!

💬 DISCUSS: Official Forum
💬 DISCUSS: Steam Forum
🗣 JOIN: Official Discord

Thanks again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team

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!


[hr][/hr]
        ◆Patch 6.1.130◆
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Build Spotlight[/h2]
[h3]Return of Hardest AI & New Difficulty Selections [/h3]
Earlier this year, we introduced a new Hardest AI that gathered resources faster and took quicker military action. You let us know that the resource-gathering boost created too much of a step-up in difficulty from Hard to Hardest and indicated that more difficulty options would be preferable. We’re pleased to provide the following updates:

  • We have reverted the resource-gathering boost which we had given to Hardest AI but kept other improvements made in January’s 5.2.131 patch.
  • We have added not 1, not 2, but 3 new AI Difficulty levels beyond the Hardest setting which have been given incremental resource-gathering boosts. The resource-gathering boosts are set at 1.2x, 1.5x and 2x the normal rate.


We believe these changes provide a better range of opportunities based on the amount of challenge you’re seeking. This will provide new ways of playing with and against the AI allowing for more varied battles and even more fun!
[hr][/hr]
[h3]Age Insider Rewards[/h3]
We’ve unlocked several Age Insider rewards for all players starting with this update. This is to thank everyone who’s played and given feedback from before launch until now. You will find the Fishing Boat Monument, Insider Portrait, Dual Fish Coat of Arms, and Fishing Net Sigil Frame within your in-game profile options. Thank you for joining us on our journey thus far!



🢂 Having Trouble Saving Earned Rewards - Portraits, Monuments, and Coat of Arms?[expand]If you are receiving an error while attempting to save your new rewards, please try restarting the title or retry after several minutes.

More information and troubleshooting is available on our Support Pages.[/expand]
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!

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]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.