How to participate in PUP on September 17th

1. Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition.
   
2. Select Properties… at the bottom of the menu.
   
3. Select the BETAS tab on the left.
   
4. In the Select the beta… dropdown menu, select future_live.
   
5. The build will begin downloading—once complete, you are ready to play!
   

Note:

• Replays in the PUP build are not compatible with the retail version.
  
• Players in the PUP version will only be able to match with those also on the PUP build.
  
• To revert back to retail, simply change your beta branch (step 4 above) back to “None.” 

Read on for more, including a quick overview of some of what the team is investigating for this fall’s Season Nine.

💬 DISCUSS: Official Forum
💬 DISCUSS: Steam Forum
🗣 JOIN: Official Discord

Please Note: As part of updating to this latest build, any saved games and observable matches made on previous builds will be unable to be loaded or replayed.

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!

Season Eight

New! Map Monsters 3.0

The relaxing waves have brought back old friends but with new rewards! They might be monsters, but you’ll be the one sinking your teeth into the challenges while you take on the competition, login August 22nd at 10:00am PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) through September 17th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) to claim your bounty!

Search the map and find the monsters as they roam to receive new random Global buffs for your units:

• Gather Speed +100%
  
• Gather Capacity +50%
  
• Move Speed +40% to 75%
  
• Vision +30%
  
• Attack +25%
  
• Health +25% to 100%

The Map Monsters game mode can be selected in Quick Match or Custom; it is not available in Ranked. While Map Monsters can be played on any map, we recommend the experience on the following maps:

• Socotra
  
• Turtle Ridge
  
• Glade
  
• Archipelago
  
• Baltic
  
• Warring Islands
  
• Oasis

[table equalcells=1 noborder=1][tr][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

Something in the Water

​As Summer comes to a close so will our time in the sun, but it’s not all doom and gloom! It looks like our map monster friends left us something in the water! Login September 18th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) through October 16th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) to catch your prize! 

Ranked Season Updates

Map Pool Rotation

This update brings with it a map pool rotation as well as some small changes to help keep the season fresh, including:

• Downvotes increase from 3 to 4
  
• Map pool size increases from 9 to 10
  

1v1 Ranked Map Pool

• Dry Arabia
  
• Four Lakes
  
• Golden Pit
  
• Gorge
  
• Hill and Dale
  
• Himeyama
  
• Lipany
  
• Mongolian Heights
  
• Rocky River
  
• Socotra

New Team Ranked Map Pool

• Ancient Spires
  
• Archipelago
  
• Dry Arabia
  
• Forest Ponds
  
• Gorge
  
• Himeyama
  
• King of the Hill
  
• Marshland
  
• Rocky River
  
• Waterholes
  

Design Update/Rework

This update features a rework to how the Rus accrue bounty. Previously, Rus gained bounty upon defeating huntable animals and wolves. This led to a race at the start of every game where both players engaged in a minigame to see who could find and defeat the most hunt. With this new update, Rus gains bounty over time while gathering food from animals, so both players should have more time to vie for control over the hunt on the map.

Additionally, for all civilizations Professional Scouts functionality has been updated to be easier to use. Previously, a player had to right click on a deer, then shift click to the town center and repeat that process for every single deer to make use of the technology. Now, a player can simply right click on a deer once with the technology researched and the scout will bring the deer back to the Capital TC (default) or a drop-off location of your choice. To move an entire herd sequentially, a player can simply shift right-click the entire herd quickly and the scouts will do the rest.

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!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

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.

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.

DETAILS

• 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.
  

Season Eight

New! Summer Sights Event

It’s time to release the Summer Festivities with many new rewards to enjoy! Before we can head to the beach and relax with our new summer look, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work, these rewards won’t earn themselves.

Login July 18th at 10am PT (17:00 UTC) through August 12th at 10am PT (17:00 UTC) to stake your claim.

Ranked Season Eight

Time to soak up the sun, Ranked Season Eight is going to be a scorcher! Following the end of Season Seven, Season Eight will kick off close behind and bringing with it a host of rewards for every rank and a little something extra for the highest rank you achieve this season in any ranked mode! Season Eight runs from July 18th at 11:00am PT (18:00 UTC) until October 17th at 10:00am PT (17:00 UTC).

Map Pool Rotation

We have some updated maps hitting the pool with the start of Ranked Season Eight! Dive in and prepare for victory!

See you on the ladder!

1v1 Ranked Map Pool

• Arabia
  
• Cliffside
  
• Rocky River
  
• Himeyama
  
• Gorge
  
• Hill and Dale
  
• Canal
  
• The Pit
  
• Baltic
  

New Team Ranked Map Pool

• Arabia
  
• Cliffside
  
• Rocky River
  
• Canal
  
• Gorge
  
• Migration
  
• Hideout
  
• Forts
  
• Waterholes
  

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

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.

💬 DISCUSS: Official Forum
💬 DISCUSS: Steam Forum
🗣 JOIN: Official Discord

Please Note: As part of updating to this latest build, any saved games and observable matches made on previous builds will be unable to be loaded or replayed.

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!

Season Eight Update

New! Summer Sights Event

Time to soak up the sun, Ranked Season Eight is going to be a scorcher! Following the end of Season Seven, Season Eight will kick off close behind and bringing with it a host of rewards for every rank and a little something extra for the highest rank you achieve this season in any ranked mode! Season Eight runs from July 18th at 10:00am PT (18:00 UTC) until October 17th at 10:00am PT (18:00 UTC).

Ranked Season Eight

To arms! Ranked play kicks off for Season Eight on July 18 at 12:00 pm PT (3:00 pm PT / 20:00 UTC)! Age up through the ranks and earn rewards!

Map Pool Rotation

We have some updated maps hitting the pool with the start of Ranked Season Eight! Dive in and prepare for victory!

See you on the ladder!

1v1 Ranked Map Pool

• Arabia
  
• Cliffside
  
• Rocky River
  
• Himeyama
  
• Gorge
  
• Hill and Dale
  
• Canal
  
• The Pit
  
• Baltic
  

New Team Ranked Map Pool

• Arabia
  
• Cliffside
  
• Rocky River
  
• Canal
  
• Gorge
  
• Migration
  
• Hideout
  
• Forts
  
• Waterholes
  

New Map: Socotra

[table equalcells=1 noborder=1][tr][td][/td][td]Chaos emerges as different civilizations crowd together on the small island of Socotra, struggling to expand on what little space they could get.[/td][/tr][TAG-104]

Design Rework: Attack Move

We’ve made an adjustment to the default Attack Move behavior, designed to help prevent accidental mis-clicks. On PC, this can be changed back by setting the Attack Move Behavior setting under Game options to “Legacy.” Check out the full details of this rework below.

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!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

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.

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.

DETAILS

• 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.