Age of Empires II (2013) News

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:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]THE BATTLEFIELDS[/h3]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.

Download the Custom Map Pack

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.

[h3]THE TEAMS[/h3]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?

Tournament Brackets

[h3]WATCH LIVE![/h3]You can catch all of the action with tournament host, MembTV, 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

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
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

[h3]WHAT: Hidden Cup 3 || Semifinals, Quarterfinals, and Live Grand Finals
WHEN: Thursday, March 19 - Sunday, March 22[/h3]
[h3]THE EVENT:[/h3]

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!

[h3]⚔ Thursday, March 19th[/h3] 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

[h3]⚔ Friday, March 20th[/h3]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

[h3]⚔ Saturday, March 21st[/h3]Games start at 14:00 GMT (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

• Quarterfinals (Four Best-of-Five Games)

[h3]⚔ Sunday, March 22nd[/h3]Games start at 14:00 GMT (7 AM PT / 10 AM ET)

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

[h3]WATCH NOW![/h3]Tune in for all the action over on T90official's channel on twitch.tv:

[h3]:arrowsright: For more information about the tournament, visit AoEZone! :arrowsleft:[/h3][h3]:arrowsright: Tune in live at twitch.tv/t90official :arrowsleft:[/h3]

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

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 via Xbox Wire
• Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and new campaign coming to Xbox Game Pass 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 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 via DualShockers

Throughout the week—with the help of the new and official Age of Empires Discord server—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 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!

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