The Daily Populous Wednesday February 5th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by ageofempires.com and submitted by Tempires

2024 was a year for Age of Empires and Age of Mythology players and —a year shaped by your passion, creativity, and epic moments. Thanks to your dedication, it’s been an incredible year not just for the community, but for the franchise as a whole. Together, we’ve had an incredible year. We kicked things off with the New Year, New Age showcase, crowned champions at Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado, connected with many of you at Gamescom, and celebrated the launches of Age of Mythology: Retold and Age of Empires Mobile. Along the way, we expanded the franchise in new ways and welcomed over 10 million new players—reaching an incredible milestone of 60 million Age of Empires players worldwide.

Our players continue to influence the many ways in which the franchise moves forward. Today we’re thrilled to start 2025 by unveiling what’s ahead. Settle in, because we’ve got a lot to share!

Immortal Pillars Expansion Launches March 4, Pre-Order Now

For Age of Mythology: Retold players, the wait is almost over! After revealing the Immortal Pillars expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold at Tokyo Game Show, we’re excited to announce it will launch on March 4th – and pre-orders are live now! Packed with brand-new content, this expansion introduces the Chinese pantheon, alongside stunning new maps, myth units, and gameplay features. Check out some highlights of all the exciting content here!

*As a reminder, if you already own the Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition, Immortal Pillars is yours at no additional cost – jump in and play on day one!

Age of Empires II: DE and Age of Mythology: Retold coming to PlayStation 5

I’m delighted to share that we are giving fans more choice to play where they want by bringing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and Age of Mythology: Retold to PlayStation 5.

Playing across all platforms is a game-changer for our franchise, and it’s all about bringing our community together. This isn’t just about convenience—it’s about growing and strengthening the Age community. With cross-play, we’re creating one global battlefield where every strategy, every empire, and every player matters.

Age of Mythology: Retold on PlayStation 5

First, on March 4, Age of Mythology: Retold will expand into new myths, new cultures, and welcome new players alongside the Immortal Pillars expansion release. We will welcome PlayStation 5 players to adventure with Arkantos, choose their pantheon, and fight for divine blessings with all the same content available in the Xbox and PC versions. PlayStation 5 players will also be able to purchase Immortal Pillars, and expand their Age of Mythology: Retold experience with the all-new Chinese pantheon.

Get the Premium Edition for 5-day early access starting February 27th, access to the new Immortal Pillars expansion, and much more!

Pre-order now and enjoy two exclusive Blessings for the Arena of the Gods mode.

All game updates from March 4th onwards will go to all platforms simultaneously – Steam, Windows Store, Xbox and PlayStation 5 – and players will be able to play together.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on PlayStation

This spring, the globally beloved Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will make its debut on PlayStation 5. Alongside this release, we’ll be dropping one of the most exciting DLC expansions for Age II: DE yet, packed with fresh new content, new civilizations for Ranked play, and ready for all players to enjoy together across all platforms – PC, Xbox , and PlayStation 5.

While we’re keeping some details under wraps until spring, here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming.

No matter where you are or what platform you prefer, you can now unite with friends, challenge rivals, and share your passion for Age of Empires and Age of Mythology.

Two DLCs Bring Exciting New Ways to Play Age IV in 2025

Big news for Age of Empires IV players! Last year we shared we were working on new DLC for Age of Empires IV, and now we’re back with even better news. We’re not rolling out one DLC in 2025 – we’re actually rolling out two!

With these DLCs, we’re expanding upon concepts we’ve introduced previously, like variant civilizations, with your feedback in mind. Variant civilizations allow us to capture diverse strategic tactics and military forces afforded to various historical bodies, and we’ve got some very exciting ones in development, one of which we’ve heard the community’s been wanting since the release of The Sultans Ascend. Not only are we changing up strategic gameplay with these variants, but we’re also spending time on the fine details: we’re introducing a large set of new units and buildings and, in some cases, updating the overall visuals of many shared units and buildings to assist with better readability and make sure your experience feels fresh! In addition to adapting the variant civilization concept, we’re also exploring unique game modes in both 2025 DLCs that focus on shorter and repeatable experiences – these modes will encourage you to try out new playstyles while also allowing you to adapt your skills and test your mettle over time.

Excited to learn more? You won’t have to wait long! The first of these two DLCs, Knights of Cross and Rose, is set to launch this spring. This DLC brings fresh new gameplay experiences to the Age IV community, allowing players to lead two well-known armies inspired by history and offering a solo mode that will challenge even the most skilled strategists.

Stay on the lookout for a deep dive soon. The Age IV team is excited to share what they’ve been cooking up!

Age of Empires Mobile: The Journey Continues

In just four months since launch, Age of Empires Mobile has captivated millions of players worldwide and brought new fans to our community. From Halloween mayhem to the Mightiest Empire contest, governors have been busy expanding kingdoms and leading legendary heroes like Boudica and Lu Bu to victory.

February brings a host of new features and events to enhance your gameplay experience:

Battle of Dawn: A campaign set in a legendary temple is about to unfold. Secure ultimate victory by transporting temple relics and employing class skills. With four stages leading to cross-server combat, there’s plenty to look forward to.

Stellar Glory: This new event activates a battle zone mode letting you face off against governors from different kingdoms.

Valentine’s Day Cosmetics: Obtain exclusive themed items like the Heart Hunter’s Circus Citadel Theme and Passionate Reverie Troop Set.

Josephine’s Treasure Hunt: Follow Princess Josephine and compete in three events; Celestial Chronicles, Path of Starlight and Alchemist’s Secret Art. Earn dice items to roll and earn points. Move around a game board to earn rewards!

Stay tuned for these exciting updates and new features in February.

To celebrate Age of Empires Mobile, we’ve also got an exclusive gift code for the first 20,000 users to redeem it! Code: AoEMVLTN

This is just a glimpse of what’s shaping up to be an extraordinary 2025. We’ve got plenty more surprises in store, so make sure you’re following our community channels and reading our blogs at ageofempires.com to stay up to date.

Please continue to send us your feedback, your thoughts and what you’d like to see next across our social channels, forums, Discord and Steam.

Armor up and rally your forces—it’s time to charge into 2025 like Zeus commanding the skies, Joan of Arc leading her crusade, or Genghis Khan conquering the steppes – and I’ll see YOU on the battlefield!! 🛡️⚔️

TheThunderOfYourLife on February 5th, 2025 at 00:13 UTC »

Age of Empires 2 DE really is the best RTS ever. Can't go wrong with it.

Eyeballs 1,280 hour playtime on Steam