Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

Major Age of Empires 2: DE update brings new co-op event and campaigns

More than two years after launch, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition keeps getting new goodies. The remastered strategy game has just got another major update, which brings a new co-op event, two new co-op campaigns, rewards, bug fixes, and more.

Age of Empires II: DE's Update 58259 - catchy, isn't it? - has kicked off a new co-op event that runs from, well, right now to February 14. This is offering a new bunch of challenges that in turn yield some decent in-game rewards, which you can earn by beating the set tasks within a certain time limit. In the style of similar events the devs have run before, this one gets you to complete a set of challenges in order, with five in total. You won't need to hit them all on consecutive days, but you can only complete up to a maximum of one per day, so you'll need to play on at least five different days while the event's live to nab them all.

Rewards vary by day, but include things like cheat codes that let you up your population cap or share resource around your team. There are also profile icons and a Town Centre decoration up for grabs. If you sign into Xbox Live at any time while the event's in swing you'll get to keep all of the mods and profile icons you unlock forever, so it's well worth doing if you intend to keep them.

Read the rest of the story...

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Update 58259

Come jump into to another fun-filled release with exciting updates, balance changes, and bug fixes for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!

We're excited to introduce new co-op campaigns and more! Grab your battle buddies and take a quick look at some of the changes coming with today’s update:

A new Co-op Event!
2 new co-op campaigns! Alaric & Saladin!
Custom Lobby Ranked Death Match!
Hindi text shaping fix!

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 58259 ◆

[hr][/hr]

BUILD SPOTLIGHT

[h3]🤍January 31 through February 14🤍[/h3]

Surprise! Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is celebrating the new year and the release of the first co-op campaigns with an all-new event! We’re excited to bring you the latest in co-op fun with the Jolly Co-operation Event!

We are also bringing you a new set of challenges! So, grab your Age of Empires buddies and dive into the new co-op gameplay mode. Don’t miss your chance to unlock some cool rewards during the event and have some fun battling it out with your friends!

New Rewards!

Today through February 14th complete the in-game tasks within the time limit to unlock exclusive rewards!

Day ~

🎯 Sign into Xbox Live.

🏆 Unlocks the King and Queen fighting for the same throne 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:

Day 1

🔒 Play any Co-op mission.

🧱 Unlocks the cheat code “my cpu can handle it”: All players’ population cap increased to 1000.

Day 2

🔒 Construct 3 Markets in any amount of games.

🏆 Unlocks the profile icon with a Queen wearing excessive amounts of golden jewelry.

Day 3

🔒 Win any Co-op mission.

🏆 Unlocks the Town Center decoration: King and Queen posing back-to-back with their arms folded.

Day 4

🔒 Research Caravan in the Market.

🏆 Unlocks the profile icon with a trade cart transporting an overwhelming amount of coins/valuables.

Day 5

🔒 Defeat 1000 enemy units in Co-op missions.

🧱 Unlocks the cheat code “sharing is caring”: every player’s resource income on a team is distributed to the entire team.

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.

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Hotfix[/h2]

Today’s build contains a fix that addresses a performance issue reported in Team Games. We’re continuing to monitor TG performance and investigating additional changes that may help – if you’re still experiencing this issue following today’s patch, please provide feedback – we’re definitely listening!

Ranked Map Rotation – January 25

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, January 25 to Tuesday, February 08

👤 1v1 MAP POOL

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

AFRICAN CLEARING

ARABIA

ARCHIPELAGO

ARENA

GOLD RUSH

WADE

YUCATAN

👥 TEAM GAME MAP POOL

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

ARABIA

ARENA

BLACK FOREST

COASTAL FOREST

HILL FORT

MEGARANDOM

NOMAD

OASIS

TEAM ISLANDS

Server Maintenance - Wednesday, January 26, 2022

WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, January 26, 2022, @ 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)
Age of Empires IV (Steam / Microsoft Store)

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, January 26th, 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 1 to 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!

VOTE! Your Ranked Map Rotation starting January 25!

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

This Week's Dev Picks

[h3]1v1 Random Maps[/h3]
✔ AFRICAN CLEARING
✔ ARABIA
✔ ARCHIPELAGO
✔ ARENA

[h3]Team Games[/h3]
✔ ARABIA
✔ ARENA
✔ BLACK FOREST
✔ HILL FORT
✔ MEGARANDOM
✔ TEAM ISLANDS

Cast Your Vote Now!

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, January 23 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!