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For many people, Age of Empires II is a game that they played a couple of decades ago, but it is still being updated to this day, with the latest update coming in just a few days ago.
It might be surprising to hear that a real-time-strategy game released back in 1999 still has a thriving community that plays the game each day. However, Age of Empires II has been kept alive by fans, and it still gets updated every few months.
On Steam, Age of Empires II still has over 25,000 players on the Definitive Edition, with a further 9,000 on the HD Edition.
Age of Empires II is bridging generations of players
Back in 1999, Age of Empires II drew attention for its sheer quantity of content. It was released with a few campaigns, 13 different playable civilizations, a campaign editor, multiple multiplayer modes, and more.
Each new release of the game expanded the list of playable civilizations and added new functionality to the game, with the Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, and Tatars being the most recent additions, coming in with the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
Each civilization has a specialized tech tree, unique units and technologies only available to them, special civilization bonuses and features, all of which give players plenty of choice on how they want to play the game.
This large amount of content is part of why Age of Empires II attracted so many players back in 1999 and is the reason why it’s still bringing in new and returning players to this day.
Notes on the latest patch
On November 17th, Age of Empires II received its anniversary patch in celebration of the release of the Definitive Edition, which itself added even more content as well as balance changes to various civilizations.
This includes some new quality of life changes to walls, trebuchets, and monks. The developers have also added a battle royale mode which has players hunt for resources while fighting other players. This patch has also included updates to the game's AI for players who want to try their hand against a computer opponent.
This degree of commitment to a game that is now over 21 years old shows how much Age of Empires II has resonated with players.
There are very few games that get played, let alone updated, 21 years after their release, and Age of Empires II may actually be the longest-running still-updated RTS game around.
