Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

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, February 09 to Tuesday, February 23

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

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

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
✔ BALTIC
✔ SOCOTRA

[h3]Team Games[/h3]
✔ ARABIA
✔ ARENA
✔ ATACAMA
✔ BLACK FOREST
✔ ISLANDS
✔ NOMAD

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, February 07 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

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With another year behind us, we’re hosting a party to celebrate all the adventures that lie ahead—and you’re all invited! Come join us in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as we celebrate (albeit a bit late) the start of a new year (and new update) to the game!

We’ve prepared a bunch of new, celebration-themed goodies for you to unlock and enjoy over the next few weeks, so don’t miss the 2021 NEW YEAR CELEBRATION EVENT!

• Unlock three new Celebratory Profile Icons!
• Unlock a new Age Up Celebration with Fireworks and Cheering!
  
• Unlock a New Year Celebration Scene for your Town Center!
  
• Unlock Fireworks for your Research Complete and Building Upgrades!
  

Starting TODAY through FEBRUARY 8, complete the in-game tasks within the time limit to unlock all the New Year celebration goodies! The first challenge unlocks a new profile icon and is required to save all of your unlocks:

🎯 Sign into Xbox Live.
🏆 Unlocks the Serjeant with Balloon-Sword 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:

🔒 Win a Standard or MP game playing as one of the following civs: Spanish, Ethiopians, Japanese or Incas.
🧱 [Mod] Unlocks the New Year Celebration Scene for the Town Center.

🔒 Create 21 Hand Cannoneers in any one game.
🏆 Unlocks the Flemish Militia Cheers profile icon.

🔒 Advance to Castle Age from Dark Age within 21 minutes.
🧱 [Mod] Unlocks the Age Up Fireworks and Cheering Celebration.

🔒 Create 21 Cannon Galleons or Elite Cannon Galleons in any one game.
🏆 Unlocks the Coustillier Firework profile icon.

🔒 Cumulatively construct 21 Bombard Towers in any games.
🧱 [Mod] Unlocks the Fireworks replacement for Research Complete and Building Upgrades.

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 the 2021 New Year Celebration event!

—The Age of Empires Team

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WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Monday, February 1 @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 22:00 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 Monday, February 1st, 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!

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         ◆ UPDATE 44834 ◆

[hr][/hr]Today's (January 28) hotfix introduces a handful of solutions for some of the gameplay issues that cropped up with the January update, while work continues on other bugs you've reported—including specific crashes that some users are experiencing. Here's the list of changes:

• Fixed an exploit which would result in the Lithuanian Relic bonus stacking beyond the +4 cap, failing to decrement if the Relics were ejected from the Monastery, and stacking to infinity (and beyond).
  
• 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.
  
• Please let us know if you continue to be awarded Lords of the West achievements without completing the listed requirements, as we have taken steps to resolve this. If you continue to experience it, please visit our forum and describe what you were doing when the achievements were rewarded, and whether or not you were rewarded other achievements or event challenge unlocks at the same time.
  

If you continue to experience any crashes, performance issues, or technical hiccups in the game, please take the time to reach out to the support team so they can assist you.


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     ◆ ONGOING INVESTIGATION ◆

[hr][/hr]Crashes are the primary focus of our ongoing investigation, as well as performance issues noted by a subset of players. For those experiencing them, the most important thing you can do is contact our support team: both for assistance and to provide details that will help our team understand the problem.

ːGimmeAnAː Age of Empires II Support Center

We are also tracking and working on fixes for several other game issues identified by the community over the past week. For issues which have been verified, keep an eye on the Known Issues page for updates; and if you encounter a new problem that is not listed, please check the official forum to contribute to a discussion thread if one already exists, or start a new one if (and only if) it does not.


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          ◆ MOD WARNING ◆

[hr][/hr]Please note that custom mods may not be compatible with the latest game update. If you encounter performance or stability issues after your mods are disabled, please visit our support page for assistance!