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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

E3 2019 Recap: A New Age for Empires!

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:

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:

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:

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.

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

How to Sign-Up for the Age II: DE Beta

Recently, we announced that we are launching an Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition closed beta on Steam:


Invites will be sent out to eligible Age of Empires Insiders in multiple waves over the coming weeks. Our goal is to get as many of our fans’ hands on the game as early as possible, listening to your valuable feedback, and ultimately building a great game—together!

Signing Up as an Insider

To sign-up as an Age of Empires Insider and be considered for the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition beta, follow the guide below! Please note that this survey and sign-up process can only be completed successfully on a PC running on a Windows operating system (7, 8, or 10).
  1. Log on to the Age of Empires website.
  2. Enter your email address in the box and select Sign Up Now
  3. Check your email for a message from [email protected] and click Confirm Email. This will redirect you to the sign-up survey.
  4. Select Log In To Begin after reviewing the requirements. You will be redirected to a Microsoft Account (MSA) sign-in page.
  5. Sign in with a Microsoft Account (MSA) of your choice. It’s important to note that the Gamertag associated with the MSA that you sign into will be your Age of Empires Insider identity!
  6. Carefully read over the Age of Empires Insider Guidelines & NDA and confirm the information presented at the bottom of the page. You may also find the Guidelines & NDA here .

    After continuing, you will be asked to connect a Steam account. In order to be eligible for consideration for the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition beta, you will need a Steam account connected to your Age Insider profile.

  7. Select Add Steam Account to login with your Steam account and be eligible for this beta test.
  8. On the Steam Community screen, sign in with the Steam account of your choice.
  9. After signing in and being redirected back to the survey, you’ll be asked some questions on your interests and play style. Complete these questions and press Save & Continue.
  10. Follow the on-screen steps to upload your DxDiag.xml file. Please note that this file must have a .xml extension and that this step can only be completed on a PC.
  11. After uploading your DxDiag.xml, select Submit Survey.
  12. Congrats! You’re signed up as an Insider and now eligible to be considered for participation in the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition beta!


Existing Insiders

Already signed up as an Age of Empires Insider in the past? We’ll need some updated info from you, too! In addition to getting a refreshed DxDiag, we’ll also need you to connect a Steam account for you to use during the beta.

Follow the steps above to re-register and be considered for beta participation! In the future, we will have a more streamlined process for our valued Insiders to be able to update their profile information. We appreciate your patience!

Additional Questions?

Check out our Age of Empires Insider FAQ here.
Be sure to follow us on:

And check out our brand-new Age of Empires Discord channel:

E3 Mixer Stream - Watch AoEII: DE LIVE!

Looking for more #E32019 insight into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Microsoft Creative Director, Adam Isgreen, will join Bert Beeckman (aka Cysion) from Forgotten Empires to play and discuss the game this coming Wednesday on Mixer!
  • When: Wednesday, June 12 @ 10:45a PDT / 1:45a EDT / 5:45p GMT
  • Where: https://mixer.com/ageofempires
  • Latest Info: https://twitter.com/ageofempires

See you soon!