Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.

This page is for the 2019 Definitive Edition. For the original game, see Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For the 2013 HD Edition, see Age of Empires II (2013).

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Developers
	Forgotten Empires
	Tantalus Media
	Wicked Witch
Publishers
	Xbox Game Studios
Engines
	Genie
Release dates
Windows	November 14, 2019
Reception
Metacritic	84
OpenCritic	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Pre-Columbian Americas, Medieval
Series	Age of Empires

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is an updated version of the 1999 Medieval RTS Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, its The Conquerors expansion pack, and all content from the 2013 HD Edition and its respective expansions. It features completely redone graphics, redone The Forgotten campaigns, improved controls, an updated multiplayer lobby, an in-built mod repository, an Art of War mode which teaches new players gameplay intricacies, and new content (labeled The Last Khans to differentiate from previous and subsequent expansions) in the form of new campaigns and civilizations.

The game has received multiple expansions with new civilizations and campaigns (see Monetization), the largest of which was Return of Rome in May 2023, which included a separate dataset based the first game's Definitive Edition, but with quality-of-life improvements of the new engine (such as gates and formations), the Lac Viet civilization and entirely new campaigns. In the standard data set, the Romans were added as a playable civilization.

A community-made spectating tool for replays and live multiplayer matches in modified versions of the original 1999 release, CaptureAge, received an officially supported version for the Definitive Edition free of charge.

Periodic seasonal events, usually enabled with major patch releases, allow the unlocking of player profile images and official cosmetic mods.

On January 31, 2023, the game was released for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles, and unlike in prior games in the genre, PC and console players can play with each other in multiplayer. Updates are usually released in sync. Despite this, the PC version did not receive controller support.

The game retains its popularity as of June 2023, with major sponsored multiplayer events constantly organized. Updates are still being made to resolve bugs and imbalances, as well as occasionally introducing new map templates.

General information

Official Discord server for the series

Official forum

Official support knowledgebase

Steam Community Discussions

AoEZone active competitive community site

Age of Empires on Liquipedia

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Microsoft Store		Xbox Game Pass for PC
Steam		Not purchasable in the United Arab Emirates.

All versions require Arxan Anti-Tamper DRM

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion packs include new civilizations, units and campaigns. Players can play in multiplayer regardless of whether all of them have any or all DLC.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Enhanced Graphics Pack	Free add-on, increases Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to ultra-high fidelity resolution. Separate download to conserve space.
Lords of the West
Dawn of the Dukes
Dynasties of India
Return of Rome	Outside of the Roman civilization in regular gameplay, this DLC includes a separate game mode.
The Mountain Royals

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Method 1: Use command line argument
Use the SKIPINTRO command line argument.

Method 2: Delete or remove cutscene files
Go to <path-to-game>\resources\_common\movies Delete or rename aoeii4K.wmv and aoeiide_titlevideo.wmv

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\profile\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\savegame\
Microsoft Store	%USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\savegame\ %USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\modes\Pompeii\savegame\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/

The modes\Pompeii subfolder refers to Return of Rome DLC, if it is installed.

Save files from Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires II: HD Edition are not compatible with this version.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics options

Interface options

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Hor+ gameplay & pillarboxed FMVs.
4K Ultra HD			Native support, but the free DLC Enhanced Graphics Pack includes graphics assets better adapted to ultra-high resolutions.
Field of view (FOV)		You can zoom-in and out by using the mouse wheel.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Fullscreen and Desktop Fullscreen modes are both Borderless Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		On/off toggle.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Can be capped or uncapped manually using game options since Update 59165.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		Deuteranopia, Tritanopia & Protanopia.

Input

Game options

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		In Game Options, under Scroll Inertia
Mouse sensitivity		In Game Options, under Scroll Speed
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio options

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Sound & Voice.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hindi				Introduced in a later patch.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Malay				Introduced in a later patch.
Polish				Introduced in build 51737.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Turkish
Vietnamese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		8	Versus, Co-op Requires a connection to the master server for all LAN play.
Online play		8	Versus, Co-op Supports cross-platform multiplayer; this can be toggled on and off on the user's side.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3074, 8888
UDP	88, 500, 3074, 3544, 4500

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Wwise
Multiplayer	Relic BattleServer	Uses RelicLink matchmaking; allows crossplay between Steam and Xbox Live accounts.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10 (Win 7 SP1* / Win 8.1*)	10 (1903)
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+	Intel Core i5 2.4 GHz AMD equivalent
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	30 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GT 420 AMD Radeon HD 6850 Intel HD Graphics 3000 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 ATI Radeon HD 5850 4 GB of VRAM DirectX 12 compatible
Other	1024×720 minimum screen resolution

A 64-bit operating system is required.

* Game was made compatible with Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 by developers but with no further support. Windows 10 is the official supported OS.