Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 188329 | 2026-10-27 | Welcome to a new update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This update focuses on stability, gameplay fixes, and fine tuning across both core systems and recent content. Here are some of the notable highlights coming with this month’s update: Fixed some crashes and out of sync issues. Fixed an issue with garrisoned units getting killed when building is destroyed. Fixed some exploits and gameplay related bugs. Fixed an issue with large group of units slowing down around obstructions. Be sure to dig down into the post below to get all of the smaller details before hopping in-game and checking them out firsthand. This is just a small tas |
| The Viking Sagas Available Now For Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! | 2026-09-22 | New lands and plunder await! The Viking Sagas DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is available now, bringing three brand new civilizations, 15 new single player campaign scenarios, and much more! The Viking Sagas introduces three formidable new civilizations with their own unique units, technologies, and shared architecture. The Danes, sail swift longships to raid and pillage your enemies’ lands to your heart’s content. The Saxons, construct mighty fortified towns and unify England in the face of ruthless Scandinavian invasions. And the Varangians, fearlessly navigate Europe’s waterways, ride down your foes, and enlist as mercenarie |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 185872 | 2026-09-22 | Welcome fellow Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition players! This time we are sailing the seas, raiding the shores and earning our place in Valhalla with a Viking-themed content update. Seek shelter under the new Scandinavian architecture set, raid and plunder enemy shores with the new Varangian Guard infantry, and revolutionize medieval warfare with the addition of the Mounted Crossbowman regional unit available to 12 existing European civilizations! The newest DLC, The Viking Sagas, is available now! But changes aren’t only coming from the north! We are charting a course through a boatload of new content, bringing down the hammer on bugs, |
| Launch Times for The Viking Sagas | 2026-09-18 | March through hills of heather, fight under the cover of snowy spruce, and hunt formidable elk and seal in Age of Empires II: DE - The Viking Sagas, releasing soon! ⚔️ Check out our latest release map to prepare for the formidable battles that await you. Pre-Order Now! There's still time to pre-order and get a 15% discount. https://store.steampowered.com/app/4376980/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__The_Viking_Sagas/ |
| The Warriors of The Viking Sagas | 2026-09-17 | Jomsviking attack an unprepared village The Jomsviking is a powerful infantry unit available to the Danes at the Castle. Established in the 10th century by King Harald Bluetooth, the Jomsvikings were a legendary mercenary brotherhood bound by a strict, ruthless code, and were “looked on as the greatest of warriors”. These hardened men spent their summers mercilessly raiding foreign lands and earned renown as the finest fighters of their age. Their exceptional bravery in the face of danger, but also fair code of brotherhood made them famous in sagas and legendary narratives. In-game, the Jomsvikings mirror this peerless reputation. Armed with |
| The Viking Sagas Campaign Preview | 2026-09-11 | Conquer the Viking world — forge your saga! Relive the legend of Harald Hardrada in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Viking Sagas. This sweeping three-campaign epic takes you across the medieval world: battle in the blood-soaked winter battlefields of Scandinavia, serve as an elite Varangian in the mighty city of Constantinople, and face your destiny in the ultimate Viking invasion of England. From the icy North to the Mediterranean heat, lead history’s most ambitious warrior through a life defined by the axe. Join the raid and secure your place in the sagas! Pre-Order The Viking Sagas Now! The Viking Sagas is available for pre-ord |
| Varangians Civilization Deep Dive | 2026-09-04 | Civilization Focus: Cavalry & Navy The intrepid Varangian adventurers turned their sights east rather than west, navigating the Baltic Sea and the rivers of Russia to settle and trade in lands as far away as the Black and Caspian Seas. A keen eye for commerce elicits extra gold income from a variety of sources, while their cavalry, navy, and Varangian Guards are among the best in the business. Through trade, raiding, and settlement, the Varangians left a lasting influence throughout much of medieval eastern Europe. Bonuses Shepherding, fishing, and hunting also generate gold. Bloodlines and Caravan effects increased. Varangian Guards attack f |
| Saxons Civilization Deep Dive | 2026-08-31 | Civilization Focus: Infantry & Defense Prosperous inheritors of Roman Britain, the Saxons use strong fortifications and infantry armies to vigilantly guard their realms against the constant threat of Viking raids. The organized and efficient fyrd system facilitates levying foot soldiers from Saxon towns and estates, while Alfred the Great’s naval reforms have created a fleet capable of challenging even the Danes at sea. Resilient and adaptive, the Saxons may bend but won’t break, and present a stiff challenge to any invader. Bonuses Dropsites provide a little extra food and stone when built. Foot soldiers cost less per Town Center or Castle c |
| Danes Civilization Deep Dive | 2026-08-28 | Civilization Focus: Infantry & Siege Weapons Feared across northern Europe for their aggressive expansion and brutal raids during the Viking Age, the Danes dominate the North Sea region with stout infantry and powerful siege engines. Centuries of coastal raiding makes them swift sailors, while a tradition of hunting, gathering, and farming makes their Fishing Ships and Villagers more productive at gathering food. True to their reaving nature, the Danes are expert pillagers, plundering gold and resources from every destroyed building. Bonuses Fishing Ships and Villagers drop off a small amount of extra food. Barracks and Siege Workshop upgrade |
| Pre-Order Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – The Viking Sagas | 2026-08-27 | Having seen the Age of Empires community’s enthusiasm for Viking adventures and sagas, we are thrilled to bring the next DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Viking Sagas! It is available now for pre-order on Steam with a 15% discount and launches on September 22, 2026. Sail to medieval northern Europe, where history meets heroic epic in daring adventures, thrilling sagas, and ruthless raids. Navigate the calm fjords, rushing rivers, treacherous seas, and lands beyond in an action-packed expansion, marauding and pillaging to your heart’s content! The Viking Sagas introduces three formidable new civilizations with their own uniq |
| Celebrating Age in 2026 – Where We’re At, and Where We’re Going | 2026-07-30 | The first six months of 2026 have been filled with memorable moments across the Age franchise. We’ve explored new legends and civilizations, welcomed players to new platforms, cheered alongside fans at Red Bull Wololo: Londinium, and watched our communities continue to create, compete, stream, mod, and share their passion for all the Age games in ways that inspire us every day. Before we look ahead to what’s next, join us as we take a look at some of the highlights from 2026 so far – and share a glimpse of what still lies ahead for Age of Empires. The Last Chieftains took Age II: DE to South America, bringing 3 new civs and 3 new campaigns te |
| A Wave of Discounts with the Steam Summer Sale | 2026-06-25 | Cool off from the heatwave with the the Steam Summer Sale; happening now! Complete your Age of Empires collection with a couple of DLC plus up to 75% off on all your favorites - it’s time to Age up your Summer! Don’t wait for these discounts - sale ends July 9th at 10 AM PT (17:00 UTC). |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 177723 | 2026-06-02 | Welcome to a new update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! With today’s Update we’re delivering a rather massive list of bug fixes, changes, and new features to help keep your experience vibrant! This patch delivers a set of stability improvements and bug fixes, addressing crashes, performance issues, and inconsistencies across both PC and consoles. Gameplay has been refined with fixes to unit behavior, technologies, and civilization bonuses to ensure mechanics work as intended. Pathfinding and economic interactions, such as Mule Cart positioning, have also been improved for smoother play. Bugfixing pass for UI, audio, and multiplayer |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Available Now on MacOS | 2026-05-28 | Over the last few years, we’ve brought one of the most beloved real-time strategy games of all time to Xbox, and PlayStation 5. Today, a new era dawns: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, is now available natively for modern Macs on Steam! Working with our partner Feral Interactive, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is now available for macOS, bringing one of the most popular real-time strategy games available on Windows to Mac fans for the first time. If you're an existing owner of the game on Steam, you now can play the macOS version! To find out more, head over to Feral Interactive’s blog where they offer a Newcomer’s Guide, an Age |
| Emergency Server Maintenance- May 1 | 2026-05-02 | WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers) WHEN: May 1 @ 6:00p PT / 9:00p ET / 1:00 UTC EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED 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) OBJECTIVES Routine server updates and maintenance. DETAILSMay 1, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for emergency maintenance maintenance. Please note: Ranked matchmaking will be disabled before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to ne |
| Wololo! Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Converts to macOS on May 28th! | 2026-04-30 | One of the most beloved strategy games ever comes to macOS this May, with the arrival of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Lead diverse civilizations spanning a thousand years of history. Grow a Dark Age hamlet into an Imperial Age citadel. Build a thriving economy, assemble your armies, and do battle across historical single-player campaigns, the hugely replayable skirmish mode, and with other macOS players in online multiplayer. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition comes complete with razor-sharp 4K visuals, a fully remastered soundtrack, and includes three expansions with the base game: Lords of the West, Dynasties of India, and Dawn |
| New Public Update Preview - May | 2026-04-24 | Hello everyone! Today we have a new PUP for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This patch delivers a set of stability improvements and bug fixes, addressing crashes, performance issues, and inconsistencies across both PC and consoles. Check out the PUP NotesSteam owners can view the patch notes here: 🛠 May Public Update Preview Notes! (Note that you must own the game and log in to Steam to access the PUP forum.) How to participate in the PUPSteam owners can download the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition PUP by following the instructions below: 1. Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Minor Update 174992 | 2026-04-23 | Hello Community! Today we’re shipping a patch that includes some diagnostic tools that are going to help us get some more information about issues that some users are experiencing on Xbox Consoles, and as part of that we wanted to provide some awareness that we’re closely tracking the problems you’re having and that we’re very much working on these issues now. Developer Note: While this brief update is mostly a communication about what’s to come, we’d also like to add some context that we’ve got a lot of capacity dedicated to improving quality of life for our Console players over the next year and in general. Our Console and our PC versions o |
| Red Bull Wololo: Londinium | 2026-04-01 | Age fans from around the world have gathered to watch Red Bull Wololo: Londinium live! This year's tournament will feature top players from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and Age of Empires IV competing for a massive $250,000 total prize pool. The event spans six days, marching through three incredible venues. The journey begins at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in Shoreditch for the Group Stage, continues to ODEON Luxe Leicester Square for the Playoffs, and ends in a spectacular Grand Final at the Royal Albert Hall, where a live 40‑piece orchestra performs the iconic Age of Empires soundtrack as more than 3,000 fans witness the grand fina |
| Spring Sale Is Happening Now! | 2026-03-19 | Spring is just about here and with it some discounts on all your favorite Age of Empires games! Pick up a missing DLC or two for up to 75% off! Don't wait - sale ends on March 26th! |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 170934 | 2026-03-12 | Welcome to a new update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This update focuses on stability, gameplay fixes, and targeted balance tuning across both core systems and recent content. Several fixes are aimed at addressing late game performance and crashes, fixing issues with Trade Cart collisions, plus Xbox and Playstation crashes. For balance, Champi Scouts receive several adjustments to address their power level. As always, we thank you for your continuous feedback and reports. 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 up |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 169123 | 2026-02-17 | Welcome to a new update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, headlined by the Naval Overhaul, to refresh water combat, economy, and ship balance (including a new Hulk-line counter to Fire Ships). Several civilizations also gain access to Catapult Galleons, further shaking up late-game naval pressure and shoreline siege options. Multiplayer gets a quality-of-life boost with the new cross-platform Voice Chat feature in lobbies, plus added accessibility options like text-to-speech and speech-to-chat. Visually, the update rolls out new regional garrison flags and civilization-specific waypoint/gather point flags, alongside new Profile Icons |
| Launch Times for The Last Chieftains | 2026-02-13 | Explore medieval South America and play as three captivating new civilizations, each with their own unique units and technologies: Mapuche, Muisca, and Tupi. Check the map and find out when all the fun starts in your area! Pre-Order Now! There's still time to pre-order and get a 15% discount. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219700/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__The_Last_Chieftains/ |
| A Deep Dive into the New Muisca Civilization | 2026-02-11 | Fabulously wealthy in gold, precious stones, and salt, the Muisca watch over the northern Andean highlands with skilled ranged soldiers and potent, mysterious priests. Ingenious craftsmanship and thriving trade networks have spread the legend of their prosperity far beyond Muisca borders, where it has even reached the ears of avaricious conquistadors. Despite the divisive war between the Zipa and Zaque demigods, the hidden Muisca mountain refuges should defy conquest and subjugation. Bonuses Advancing to the next Age costs less gold. Settlements cost less and heal nearby units. Champi Warriors and Archery Range units get increased melee armor |
| A Deep Dive into the New Tupi Civilization | 2026-02-02 | The bold, honorable Tupi prowl the eastern jungles, escarpments, and coasts of South America with formidable warbands of infantry and ranged soldiers. Wide geographical distribution grants them easy access to a variety of resources, while prudent frugality promotes sustainable use of arms and armaments. As foreign arrivals reshape the internal and external tribal relations, the Tupi trust in their large numbers and skilled diplomacy to endure whatever adversity comes their way. Bonuses Start with additional resources. Villagers can garrison in Settlements. Fallen units return a percentage of their cost. Archery Range and Barracks upgrades cos |
| From Concept to Final Polish – the Art of The Last Chieftains | 2026-01-30 | Have you ever wondered how buildings and units are created for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Today, we go behind the scenes, talking to the talented artists at Forgotten Empires about the process and challenges of bringing these intricate new designs to life for our latest expansion, The Last Chieftains. The new Building Set for The Last Chieftains in all of its glory. Pre-Order Now! The Last Chieftains is available for pre-order now on Steam with 15% off for a limited time! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219700/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__The_Last_Chieftains/ Step 1: Conceptualization and Research Moodboard for the Last Chieftains Jo |
| A Deep Dive into the New Mapuche Civilization | 2026-01-29 | Famed for their resistance against Spanish invasions during the Araucanian Wars, the Mapuche dominate the valleys near the southern Andes with deadly counter units and unique cavalry tactics. Centuries of living in tune with their environment makes them adept foragers, and familiarity with the terrain lends them knowledge of the location of enemy Castles. True to their adaptive reputation, the Mapuche also leveraged horses and gunpowder weapons captured from defeated Spanish armies. Bonuses Foragers drop off extra food. Settlements can train the Spearman-line and Skirmishers. Infantry, Slingers, and Skirmishers get increased HP in Feudal/Cast |
| A New Naval Warfare in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | 2026-01-28 | Set sail for a new naval adventure in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! Naval prowess was a cornerstone of empire building in the Middle Ages. From Viking raids, to Italian trade and Portuguese exploration, many civilizations leveraged the seas and rivers to establish their dominance. To do this history justice, the next update will bring expanded naval gameplay in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, adding 4 new ships, new technologies, map elements, new animations, and more! The expanded naval warfare will be available to all Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition owners, and will release alongside The Last Chieftains on February 17t |
| Red Bull Wololo: Londinium Last Chance Qualifiers | 2026-01-23 | The ranked ladder qualifier has come to an end, and with it we have the four qualifiers to Red Bull Wololo: Londinium- and with an epic twist no one could have predicted! In the last hour, Vinchester scored a victory against MbL, leaving him tied with Hearttt for the 4th qualifying spot. After a tiebreaker match, we now know the first four players who will continue on to compete in London! Congratulations to our four Ladder Qualifiers: Hera ACCM Liereyy Hearttt The action isn't over yet! This weekend's Last Chance Qualifiers will determine the final lucky four players to qualify for Red Bull Wololo: Londinium! Tune in Saturday, January 24th a |
| The Warriors of the Last Chieftains | 2026-01-23 | The Last Chieftains introduces three new civilizations: Mapuche, Muisca, and Tupi. Masters of adaptation to the terrain and continuously changing circumstances, the new civilizations will offer Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition players the game’s core unit roster along with several unique and region-specific options representing emblematic features of each civilization. From ranged cavalryman whose projectiles slow down enemy units to ranged archers that trains in pairs, veterans and newcomers alike will find the new units interesting and approachable, with plenty of flavor for historical enthusiasts! The Last Chieftains is available for |