Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, October 20 @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 21:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]

• Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

• Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, October 20th, 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!

It’s that time again! Visit the official Age of Empires forum to vote for your Ranked map pool for the next two weeks.

[h3]1v1 Random Maps[/h3]
✔ ARABIA
✔ ARENA
✔ ISLANDS
✔ RUNESTONES

[h3]Team Games[/h3]
✔ ARABIA
✔ ARENA
✔ BLACK FOREST
✔ KAWASAN
✔ NOMAD
✔ TEAM ISLAND

To participate in the community ranked map pool vote, you will need to login to the official Age forum using your free Microsoft account. Then, click the images below to jump to this week’s polls.

:alertalert: Polls are open until NOON Pacific on Sunday, October 17 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

October is here and we are celebrating on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and with an entirely new event for the occasion!

This year’s October Event is spooky – we’re celebrating Halloween! Set out your pumpkins and get ready to enjoy this month’s event!

• Unlock a Decoration for the Town Center!
  
• Unlock three new Halloween-themed profile icons!
  
• Unlock a knight with a Halloween style pumpkin head!/*]
  

Now through October 31 complete the in-game tasks within the time limit to unlock exclusive rewards!

🎯 Sign into Xbox Live.
🏆 Unlocks the carved and glowing pumpkin profile icon.
💾 *Required* if you want to save any rewards unlocked during the event!

Each of the following challenges must be unlocked in order and on separate days:

🔒 Research the Crop Rotation technology in the Mill.
🧱Farm graphics replaced with Pumpkin patch farms.

🔒 Research the Paladin technology in the Stable.
🏆 Unlocks a menacing and evil-looking Boar profile icon.

🔒 Train 100 units in a single match. 
🧱 Unlocks the Town Center Scarecrow decoration.

🔒 Slay two boars in a single match.
🏆  Unlocks the Gravestone profile icon. (text: RIP)

🔒 Kill 500 units in any amount of matches.
🏆Unlocks the Knight with Halloween style pumpkin head.

Remember: if you sign in to Xbox Live during the event, you’ll get to keep all of the mods and profile icons you’ve achieved! Sign in, earn your rewards, and enjoy!

We hope you enjoy the Halloween October Celebration Event!

—The Age of Empires Team

Here is the latest Ranked Map Rotation as determined by the developer picks and community vote. For the next two weeks, you’ll be able to pick from the new set of maps listed below!

Map pools as of: 6p Pacific (9p ET / 20:00 UTC / 22:00 CEST) on Tuesday, MMMM DD to Tuesday, MMMM DD

This week's 1v1 Community Map Picks are in BOLD.

This week's TG Community Map Picks are in BOLD.

Welcome to another release filled with exciting updates, balance changes, and bug fixes for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!

We’re pretty excited about making today’s build available to you. Here is a quick look at some of the changes coming with today’s update:

• The October Event is going on now
  
• New Maps have been added.
  
• Spectator chat is now activated!
  
• Lots of bug fixes.
  
• Balance changes!
  
• New Co-op Content!
  

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!

READ MORE HERE!

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires 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


[hr][/hr]

         ◆ UPDATE 54480 ◆

[hr][/hr]

[hr][/hr]While there are plenty of notable fixes and features to which to look forward in today’s build, here are some of the big highlights coming with this month's update:

[h3]October Event![/h3]

[h3]🤍October 5 through October 31[/h3]

October is here and we are celebrating on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and with an entirely new event for the occasion!

This year’s October Event is spooky - we’re celebrating Halloween! Set out your pumpkins and get ready to enjoy this month’s event!

• Unlock a Decoration for the Town Center!
  
• Unlock three new Halloween-themed profile icons!
  
• Unlock a knight with a Halloween style pumpkin head!
  

🡒 NEW REWARDS! Starting October 5 through October 31 complete the in-game tasks within the time limit to unlock exclusive rewards!

Each of the following challenges must be unlocked in order and on separate days:

🔒 Sign into Xbox Live.
🏆 Unlocks the carved and glowing pumpkin profile icon.
💾 *Required* if you want to save any rewards unlocked during the event!

Each of the following challenges must be unlocked in order and on separate days:

🔒 Research the Crop Rotation technology in the Mill.
🧱Farm graphics replaced with Pumpkin patch farms. 

🔒 Research the Paladin technology in the Stable.
🏆 Unlocks a menacing and evil-looking Boar profile icon.

🔒 Train 100 units in a single match.  
🧱Unlocks the Town Center Scarecrow decoration.

🔒 Slay two boars in a single match.
🏆 Unlocks the Gravestone profile icon. (text: RIP)

🔒 Kill 500 units in any amount of matches.
🏆Unlocks the Knight with Halloween style pumpkin head.

🡒 KEEP IT FOREVER!!
Remember: if you sign in to Xbox Live at any point during the event, you get to keep all the mods and profile icons you unlock! Sign in, earn your rewards, and enjoy!

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!

READ MORE HERE!

[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.

Following yesterday’s Age of Empires II:DE Update 54480, the Team has been monitoring feedback and working to address issues identified by Community. We’re delivering some quick fixes available in Update 54684!

• Resolved an issue some players were reporting in accessing the Edward Longshanks, Grand Dukes, and The Hautevilles Campaigns
  
• Fixed a crash that was affecting some players at game start or trying to load into matches
  
  We’ll continue to keep an eye on player feedback, particularly around the new Co-Op Campaign content that was released in Update 54480 – we’re anxious to take that feedback into the Campaigns still to come and do what we can to make some very memorable Missions playable for you again, but with a friend!