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Age of Empires II (Retired)
Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition. With the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this product will not be updated further.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
75 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“I have played Age of Empires since it first became available on cd many years ago. I feel it is the very best game for me as i have freedom to play at any level against other players or against AI. I am able to gain…”
“Great times! Better than Sex!”
“Age of Empires 2 is still one of the best strategy games ever made, even with all the years that have passed since it first came out. The HD version does a good job of keeping that classic feel while making it easier to…”
11 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Childhood and CRT Monitors Honestly? There’s hardly any game that has shaped me as much as Age of Empires II. I still remember exactly what it was like sitting in front of my first bulky CRT monitor, it was one of my…”
“One of the if not the greatest of all time classic RTS games. I still own the gold edition on CD. This will never get old. It's a must play for any RTS fan. Strategy matters, tech and units make a difference. No one…”
“It's super fun. No game is ever the same as another game. You can play with your friends.”
8 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“best game and reminds me of my childhood playing it with my brother on the family computer. taught me so much about history and is so good. please play this. wololo”
“One of the best games from the 90's out there, and with the Definitive Edition it continues to show that the formula put forward in AoE2 still has legs. This review is for the original Age of Kings and Conquerors…”
“best game ever, nostalgic, great campaigns and multiplayer system. love it”
6 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Age of Empires 2 is still one of the best strategy games ever made, even with all the years that have passed since it first came out. The HD version does a good job of keeping that classic feel while making it easier to…”
“I prefer this version rather than the Definitive Edition, for the graphic design and sounds. I don't need the additionnal content of the newer versions and HD Edition keeps the original style of the game, and it's not a…”
“It's a truley brilliant game, I used to play this as a kid, it's exactly the same, though it is in hd, it's still as it is, it also has some new featurers and new dlc that let's you do newer campaigns, I would like to…”
6 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“One of the if not the greatest of all time classic RTS games. I still own the gold edition on CD. This will never get old. It's a must play for any RTS fan. Strategy matters, tech and units make a difference. No one…”
“It's super fun. No game is ever the same as another game. You can play with your friends.”
“best game ever, nostalgic, great campaigns and multiplayer system. love it”
5 of the 102 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“This game owners should get 100% off for the definitive edition. But no.”
“This version of the game has trouble with resolution and is outdated in many other ways. If you want to play age of empires 2 without any issues I encourage you to buy the Definitive edition. I have both versions…”
“DO NOT BUY IN 2026 FOR MULTIPLAYER! As the header says. This edition is outdated for multiplayer and will abrely work 90% of the time. Only buy for single player else, buy the new (much more expensive) definitive…”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“One of the if not the greatest of all time classic RTS games. I still own the gold edition on CD. This will never get old. It's a must play for any RTS fan. Strategy matters, tech and units make a difference. No one…”
“Recent update broke the game for CD version AI. The nostalgia is gone.”
“This game is really disappointing. I bought it, and then it opened some random page, and when I tried to play it, it disappeared immediately. This game hasn't been improved at all.”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“This version of the game has trouble with resolution and is outdated in many other ways. If you want to play age of empires 2 without any issues I encourage you to buy the Definitive edition. I have both versions…”
“One of the if not the greatest of all time classic RTS games. I still own the gold edition on CD. This will never get old. It's a must play for any RTS fan. Strategy matters, tech and units make a difference. No one…”
“Recent update broke the game for CD version AI. The nostalgia is gone.”
Counted across 102 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 95.8% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Age of Empires II is one of the first games i've ever played. And its one of the games, i also play today. It never get bored. I would say it is a part of computer games history.”
— a player, Steam review · 119 hrs played“Been playing this well over 20 years and will continue to do so, one of the best games ever made. Its not slowed down with silly graphics enhancements or unnecessary upgrades during the game play. This game is amazing and was perfectly designed and executed.”
— a player, Steam review · 409 hrs played“A classic,only buy this version if you have a weak pc, as the Definitive Edition has a lot of quality of life improvements...and this version is abandoned as well...”
— a player, Steam review · 126 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 11:56 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Regarding the Lunar New Year Sale Discount
Greetings, Age fans! Some eagle-eyed users noticed that Age of Empires II: HD Edition was discounted during the ongoing Lunar New Year sale for 75% off. Age of Empires II: HD Edition was mistakenly di
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Lords of the West—the first expansion for Age II: DE—is now available!
AVAILABLE NOW! For those who've made the leap to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, the first official expansion, Lords of the West, is now available! Pick up your copy today and expand your gamep
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · RTS · Medieval · Multiplayer · Classic · Historical · Base-Building · City Builder · Resource Management · Singleplayer · Tactical · Real-Time (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Captions available · Steam Workshop · Steam Cloud · Stats |
| Languages | English * , German * , French * , Italian * , Korean * , Spanish - Spain * , Simplified Chinese * , Russian, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese - Brazil * |
| Achievements | 294 |
| Estimated owners | 5,000,000 – 10,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://www.ageofempires.com/games/aoeii/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista, 7, 8 Pro+ Processor: 1.2GHZ CPU Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU DirectX®: 9.0c Hard Drive: 2 GB HD space