Microsoft has announced plans to release a new expansion pack for Age of Empires II: HD Edition on Steam sometime in 2015. This news comes the day before the two-year anniversary of the game's release on Steam.
Microsoft and developer Skybox launched Age of Empires II: HD Edition as a graphical revamp of the classic 1999 historical RTS game from the now defunct Ensemble Studios. In a blog post today, Microsoft announced:
In those two years, players have created over 10,000 items in the Steam Workshop, and spent more than fifty million hours training armies, converting units, and chopping trees. In fact, more people have played over 50 hours of AoE II: HD than live in Little Rock, the state capital of Arkansas.
In November 2013, Microsoft released an official expansion for the game, The Forgotten, based on a fan-created expansion pack called The Forgotten Empires. Today, Microsoft stated they are working with the same mod team to launch yet another expansion to the game. It added:
As with The Forgotten expansion, you can anticipate a lot packed in there, including new civilizations, campaigns, game modes, units, and more. If your focus is more on the original Age of Empires II experience, the new content development means you can look forward to additional support and features that benefit every owner. Since launch, AoE II: HD has come a long way, and with the help of the FE team and Skybox, this year is going to be the best yet.
Microsoft also continues to support and update Age of Empires: Castle Siege for Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 platforms.
Source: Microsoft
