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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

VOTE NOW for your Ranked Map Rotation starting July 14!

Last week, we announced a heap of July updates coming to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, including COMMUNITY VOTING on the ranked map pools.

With COMMUNITY VOTING, you’ll be able to use your voice to help determine the ranked map pool for the next two weeks. Our own BBQTurkman breaks down how this will work:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Ranked Map Picks!

As of the July update, there will be four available map pools in Ranked matchmaking:
  • 1v1 RANDOM MATCH
  • TEAM GAME RANDOM MATCH
  • 1v1 DEATHMATCH
  • TEAM DEATHMATCH

This week, community voting will be available for the 1v1 RANDOM and TEAM GAME map pools. Each will have several fixed maps available by default:

1v1 RANKED: ✔ Arena, ✔ Arabia
TEAM GAMES: ✔ Arena, ✔ Arabia, ✔ Black Forest

Based on telemetry and player feedback, the developers will then select several maps for each map pool:
  • +2 maps for 1v1 RM
  • +3 maps for Team Games

The final three maps for both pools will be determined by the community! Of the nine maps listed in each poll, the three that receive the most votes will be added to their respective map pools.

Cast Your Vote Now!

To participate in the community vote for the ranked map pools, you must have a Steam or Microsoft account on ageofempires.com. Make sure you’re logged in to the forums where the voting will take place.

The polls are open until NOON Pacific on Sunday, July 12 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure cast your vote and check back to see which maps come out on top!

Click below to jump to each poll:




Server Maintenance - Tuesday, July 7



WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Tuesday, July 7 @ 1:00p PT / 4:00p ET / 20:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS

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

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Tuesday, July 7th, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. This will unfortunately disrupt any matches in progress and prevent the creation during the down time, so we recommend wrapping up any matches at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window.

[h3]:alertalert: DURING THIS TIME, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES[/h3]

The downtime is expected to last between 1 and 2 hours. We will update 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!

New Matchmaking Customization (and more) coming this July!

Happy July’s-eve everyone! With only hours left until the end of the month (or negative hours for our friends living near the dateline), we wanted to fill you in on where we’re at and what’s on the horizon for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

While we don’t have a June update in store for the final moments of the month, we do have a lot in store for you this July! Rather than trying to explain it all in text, here’s our own BBQTurkman with an early sneak peek at some of what’s in store:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
For those of you who still appreciate detailed lists (…and who doesn’t?), here are some of the highlights from the video along with some additional tidbits of info:

COMING THIS JULY


There will be a JULY UPDATE!

The RANDOM MAP and DEATHMATCH game modes will have unique map pools.

A new PREFERRED MAP option lets you prioritize the map you want to play.
Here’s how it will work:
  • If both players share a preferred map, they will play on that map.
  • If players have different preferred maps, it will choose from the two.
  • If one player has a map preference and the other doesn't, the preferred map will be used.
  • If neither player has a preference, a random map will be selected from the pool of non-banned maps.
  • In Team games, the map is selected from the list of preferences provided by players, skewing towards those that are preferred by the majority of players.

We will use COMMUNITY VOTING to determine and modify the map pools!
  • Use your voice to help determine which maps show up in the ranked pool(s).

The Ranked map pools will be UPDATED EVERY TWO WEEKS!
A new RANDOM CIVILIZATION option randomizes picks for everyone.
  • With the option, all picks in a given match will be randomized, not just an individual’s pick.

Coming soon: the MONGOL EVENT!
Which includes:
  • Three new profile icons!
  • A solid gold statue!
  • Visual mod for houses!

New: COMPETITIVE SCENARIO based on the E3 Demo, plus an online leaderboard!

…and more!

All of this comes with a new approach to how we deliver content, updates, and fixes to the game. We will highlight more of the process changes coming with (and continuing beyond) the July update, but we wanted to start with some of the important changes coming to Age II: DE based on the community’s feedback.

As always, the forums and Discord are your safe space to discuss these new changes—as well as the features and ideas you’d be excited to see in the future!

[h3]👉 Visit the Steam Forums
👉 Visit the official Discord server[/h3]

This is only the beginning; thanks for coming along on this journey with us!

—The Age of Empires Team

Ranked Map Rotation - June 29

To kick off July with something fresh, we're updating the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 1v1 and Team map pools based on feedback from the competitive community. The next time you jump into the matchmaking queue, you'll be able to choose from the new set of maps highlighted below!

Current map pools as of 6p PACIFIC (9p ET / 20:00 UTC / 22:00 CEST) on Monday, June 29
👤 1v1 MAP POOL


The 1v1 map pool has been narrowed to 7 maps (from 9), and the number of bans have been reduced to 3.
  • Acropolis
  • Arabia
  • Arena
  • Four Lakes
  • Gold Rush
  • Hideout
  • Islands


👥 TEAM GAME MAP POOL


The TEAM GAME map pool still features 9 of the most popular maps (by the numbers). The number of bans remains the same.
  • Arabia
  • Arena
  • Black Forest
  • Cenotes
  • Gold Rush
  • Hideout
  • Lombardia
  • Migration
  • Nomad

Steam Summer Sale - Age of Empires II: DE - 25% Off!



Pick up Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition for 25% off during the Steam Summer Sale. You can also expand your music library by picking up the official soundtrack at half price during the event.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/813780/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1228810/
[h3]🕙 Offer ends Thursday, July 9 @ 10AM Pacific Time[/h3]


[h2]:RelicII: OTHER DEALS[/h2]
Here are deals on other titles in the Age of Empires franchise. Note that these prices are only available now through the end of the sale!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1017900/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1237770/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/105450/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/266840/