Batter up, friends! We've got the next round of games coming soon to your download and install queue. Whether you want to bend reality in Control, check out Bikini Bottom, or more, we have your bases covered… er… loaded! Let's play ball!!

Available Today
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Load up your Boltgun and unleash the awesome Space Marine arsenal to blast your way through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood in a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, frenetic gameplay and the stylish visuals of '90s retro shooters.

We on the Age of Empires team want to say a huge thank you to our 50 million players around the world. 2023 was a huge year for our games and our community. We wanted to share a look at what there is to look forward to in 2024 and we've just wrapped our New Year, New Age show which did just that. If you watched, thank you for joining us! If you weren't able to join us live, or you just want a reminder of all the things we covered, here's what's coming this year.

Age of Mythology: Retold is another title that got its debut at our 25th anniversary. Since then, we've continued to develop this exciting reimagining of fan favorite Age of Mythology. Art Director Melinda Rose gave players worldwide their first look at Retold via three in-game units, brought to life through amazing AR technology. Showcasing Medusa, Pegasus and Cerberus from the Greek pantheon, Melinda took us through how each unit has been updated, given completely new art and even had gameplay tweaks that will intensify their strengths and unique powers making them even more important in your strategy. They will be stronger, faster, bigger and bolder. We are also beyond thrilled to announce that players do not have long to wait. Age of Mythology: Retold is coming to Xbox consoles and PC in 2024 and is available to wishlist on Steam now!

Hello there! Community Manager Katten here, we provided access to the Steam Next Fest Demo! So this Diary is here to get you caught up to speed to the question; What is Millennia? Millennia is a revolutionary turn-based 4X game developed by C Prompt Games, a team of experienced strategy developers known for their work on the Age of Empires franchise. This game introduces innovative elements such as alternate history, custom tech trees, and a focus on both economy and combat. Millennia stands out by redefining the 4X genre with dynamic historical progression, where your decisions shape the unfolding of different historical ages. Each age brings its own distinct gameplay challenges and opportunities, taking players on a journey from ancient civilizations to futuristic societies. With every choice holding significance, Millennia offers unparalleled replayability and strategic depth with its unique core pillars, so let's dive in!

Ages
A key innovation in Millennia is the Age-based design. There are ten Ages in a "normal" game, ranging from the Age of Stone to the near-future. Each Age provides the experience of the Age - the Age of Iron has Iron Age technologies, Iron Age units, Iron Age buildings, and rules specific to the conditions of the Iron Age. If you keep things within "normal" parameters, you might progress through 10 "standard" Ages, each delivering historical gameplay. However, Millennia allows history to go off the rails. If you make some different decisions, you might steer your timeline into alternate Ages. These Ages are still historically themed, but explore some "what-if" territory. The Age of Aether is based on a history where the internal combustion engine doesn't come about as soon as it did and steam-power develops further. The Age of Blood is based on a war raging out of control and spreading across the world. Ultimately, most of the things you have to use in a game come from the Ages, so you can end up with very, very different scenarios depending on the specific history and alternate history your timeline moves through.

It's a new year and a time to reset, reflect and think about what the next few months has in store. Here on the Age of Empires team, we've got a LOT lined up for 2024. Instead of trying to summarize it in a lengthy blog post, we decided to make a show of it! We're excited to announce the "New Year, New Age" livestream on February 23rd at 10:00 am PT (1:00 pm ET / 18:00 UTC).

With so much to come in 2024, we want to show our players around the world what to expect from the Age of Empires franchise this year. We'll be revealing more information on some of our most anticipated titles for 2024 - so expect to see a sneak peek of Age of Mythology: Retold and a first look at Age of Empires Mobile. If you're eager to know what's next for our games already in your library, don't worry, we'll have updates for those titles too.

The fastest way to give the gift of cloud gaming starts this GFN Thursday: For a limited time, every six-month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership includes three months of PC Game Pass. Also, the newest GeForce NOW app update is rolling out to members, including Xbox Game Syncing and more improvements. Plus, take advantage of a heroic, new members-only Guild Wars 2 reward. It's all topped off by support for 18 more games in the GeForce NOW library this week.

Give the Gift of Gaming
Unwrap the gift of gaming: For a limited time, gamers who sign up for the six-month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership will also receive three free months of PC Game Pass - a $30 value. With it, Ultimate members can play a collection of high-quality Xbox PC titles with the power of a GeForce RTX 4080 rig in the cloud. Jump into the action in iconic franchises like Age of Empires, DOOM, Forza and more, with support for more titles added every GFN Thursday. Seamlessly launch supported favorites across nearly any device at up to 4K and 120 frames per second or at up to 240 FPS with NVIDIA Reflex technology in supported titles for lowest-latency streaming. This special offer is only here for a limited time, so upgrade today.

Accompanying The Mountain Royals expansion will be an update including a massive rework of the Persian civilization! This update will be available to everyone who owns the base game of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, whether you have purchased the upcoming The Mountain Royals expansion or not. Prepare to embark on a legendary journey in "The Mountain Royals" DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Unlock the rich history and untold stories of two remarkable civilizations, the Armenians and Georgians, and immerse yourself in three captivating new campaigns: Tamar, Thoros the Great, and Ismail.

The Persian Civilization Identity
As more civilizations were released through additional expansions, we found the Persian civilization was slowly becoming less unique and their primary identity as a Knight civilization had become less meaningful. We strived for the way the Persians are represented in-game to incorporate additional design, while representing their rich history, creating more unique tools for the Persian civilization's toolbox. We wanted to provide you with more interesting strategic choices, and ways for you to engage your opponents, all while representing them from the early Middle Ages to late empire.

Just a few weeks ago at Gamescom we announced that an expansion for Age of Empires IV—The Sultans Ascend—would be coming soon. Today we're thrilled to let our PC and Xbox console players around the world know that they'll be able to play this exciting new content on November 14! Pre-orders are available now for everyone wanting to graduate The Sultans Ascend from their wishlist and begin counting down the days.

This new Age of Empires IV single player campaign takes place in the Middle East during the European Crusades. You'll take on the role of the Muslim resistance to the invasion and follow the story of well-known Muslim leaders, their struggles with the Crusaders, and the battles they fought. Our story begins with the First Crusade at the end of the 11th century, when Muslim provinces are mired in rivalry with one another.

For those of you who have already started the epic journey into Starfield in early access I hope you're having a blast, and for those of you joining on day one with Game Pass, your time starts very soon! I am so excited to finally add Starfield to our list of games "Coming Soon." Space, feelings, souls-like - we have amazing games for you to explore (not to mention a reminder of some surprise shadow drops last week!). Let's get to it!

Available Today
Gris (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Gris makes a return to the Game Pass library today! Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a remaster of one of the most beloved real-time strategy franchises featuring improved visuals, enhanced gameplay, cross-platform multiplayer and more. Command mighty civilizations from across Europe and the Americas or jump to the battlefields of Asia.

Members can experience two new game modes: Historical Battles and The Art of War Challenge Missions. Two new nations also join this edition - Sweden and the Inca - each with advantages for conquering the New World. Build an empire today and stream across devices in glorious 4K resolution with an Ultimate membership.

Xbox Game Pass support is coming to GeForce NOW. Members will soon be able to play supported PC games from the Xbox Game Pass catalog through NVIDIA's cloud gaming servers. Learn more about how support for Game Pass and Microsoft Store will roll out in the coming months. Plus, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition is the first from the world's most popular real-time strategy franchise to arrive on GeForce NOW.

Announced over the weekend, Game Pass members will soon be able to play supported PC games from the Game Pass catalog with GeForce NOW. We're working closely with Microsoft to enable members to play select PC titles from Microsoft Store, just as they can today on GeForce NOW with their Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect and GOG.com accounts. Members who are subscribed to PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to stream these select PC titles from the Game Pass library - without downloads or additional purchases for instant gaming from the cloud.

The season of hot sun and longer days is here, so stay inside this summer with 20 games joining GeForce NOW in June. Or stream across devices by the pool, from grandma's house or in the car - whichever way, GeForce NOW has you covered. Titles from the Age of Empires series are the next Xbox games to roll out to GeForce NOW, giving members plenty to do this summer, especially with over 1,600 games part of the GeForce NOW library.

NVIDIA released the first Xbox games to the cloud last month as part of its ongoing partnership with Microsoft. Now it's the first to bring a smash hit Xbox series to the cloud with Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires titles. Since the first release in 1997, Age of Empires has established itself as one of the longest-running real-time strategy (RTS) series in existence. The critically acclaimed RTS series puts players in control of an entire empire with the goal of expanding and evolving to become a flourishing civilization.

Over the last 20 years, Age of Empires II has consistently been viewed as the cornerstone of this great RTS franchise. Praised for its myriad mechanical improvements over the first game, unique units and the addition of gates to stop yourself accidentally imprisoning your on-screen warriors, Age of Empires II ushered in an era almost as unforgettable as the in-game factions we love to roleplay.

But a groundbreaking sequel always has an origin story that started it all, and the first Age of Empires title is by no means being left behind. The latest expansion, Return of Rome, is set to bring integral parts of the game's original content into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as its own self-contained offering, plus some brand new additions for fans to get stuck into.

As we enter the middle of May, this week's major release—which is hard to call a AAA title—is all about humans and a dog. The rest of this coming week's releases is a mix of everything from action RPGs and alien bugs to laboratory experiments and Lego. Could there be something here for you? Read on to find out.

Humanity / This week's big release and VR game / Tuesday 16 May
A unique blend of puzzle-solving and action-platforming. Play a lone Shiba Inu charged with commanding massive, marching crowds to the goal in Story Mode, or browse a wide array of user-made levels crafted via the in-game Stage Creator!

Everything you need to know - what to expect with the newest Return of Rome DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. What is Return of Rome? Return of Rome is a completely new type of expansion, which brings classic Age of Empires gameplay, style and key experiences as a brand new self-contained experience. Also...

Starting this weekend, some of your favorite content creators are ready to show YOU an exclusive preview of the upcoming DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome. Want to know more about the upcoming addition of the 16 Age of Empires civilizations, the brand-new Lac-Viet, or the new Romans to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Well, we have fantastic news for you: some of your favorite content creators have been granted early access to the Return of Rome DLC, and you'll be getting a sneak preview of the exclusive units, civilization bonuses, and other new additions ahead of release!

From May 4th through 15th, owners of Age of Empires IV on Steam will have an opportunity to dive into all the amazing content, updates and changes coming in Season Five! The Age of Empires IV Public Update Preview (PUP) presents an opportunity for our incredible players to get hands-on experience with exciting changes ahead of major updates. They also provide an opportunity to give feedback and help us prepare for upcoming major releases. PUP builds will generally contain new features, content, balance changes and bug fixes.

A New Game Mode, Team Voice Chat, Trade Updates and More!
Among the content highlighted in this PUP is Empire Wars, a new, quick-to-action game mode where players start with a burgeoning empire, ready to dive into combat or advance to the next Age! Players begin the match with a variety of pre-built buildings and villagers already tasked on resource collection. Not only that, but you'll be able to try out three news maps before they officially go live, including Golden Heights, Migration, and Volcanic Island!

Where were you in 1998? Perhaps listening to Cher's Believe, watching Titanic, playing with your Tamagotchi and relaxing on your inflatable couch? Or were you playing the Age of Empires DLC The Rise of Rome? This beloved evolution of the first Age of Empires game has taken on a new form and joined the Definitive Edition era in the Return of Rome DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

Yes, you read that correctly, Age of Empires content available in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Bringing the civilizations and action of ancient worlds to AoE II: DE. Purchasers will be able to switch to Return of Rome in the game's main screen and take on fresh challenges.

In February, we brought a preview of PC Game Pass to 40 new countries for the first time ever. The response was incredible. Thank you to all the players who jumped in to test the experience and help us shape the preview. New members looking to join PC Game Pass can head to PC Game Pass website to learn more about local pricing as well as how to sign up.

To celebrate the launch, new members will receive a special welcome offer for their first three months for a limited time. Those who were a part of our Insider Program will receive two free months of PC Game Pass membership, with no further action needed, as a thank you for helping us shape the experience and being one of the first PC Game Pass members in your country. This will be available directly in member's accounts in the coming days.

The Return of Rome campaign is set for a May 16 2023 release date according to a tweet posted by the official Age of Empires account. The latest campaign expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition follows several (almost) yearly DLC drops since the re-mastered strategy game's debut in late 2019 - Lords of the West (January 2021), Dawn of the Dukes (August 2021) and Dynasties of India (April 2022). Last year's India campaign added a significant amount of content, in the form of three new civilizations: the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras. Three new campaigns were added to the base game and introduced a trio of new empires: Babur, Rajendra, and Devapala. The entire Indian civilization within the game was renamed to the Hindustanis.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome was first announced, albeit briefly, during a livestream on 25 October 2022, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the real time strategy game series. Details are scarce about the actual content on offer, but the upcoming campaign is expected to feature all 16 of the original civilizations from the first entry in the franchise (AoE) according to an internal Xbox Games Studios memo.

NVIDIA today released the latest version of GeForce Game Ready drivers. Version 496.49 WHQL comes with optimization for "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy," including support for DLSS. It also features optimization for "Age of Empires IV," "Battlefield 2042" (Early Access), "Call of Duty Vanguard," "Chivalry 2," "GTA Definitive Edition Trilogy," "Forza Horizon 5," "Jurassic World Evolution," and "Riders Republic." The drivers also fix certain legacy issues with "DOOM 3: BFG Edition," and "Tom Clancy's The Division 2." A flickering issue noticed at 1080p on LG OLED C1 series monitors, has been fixed. The drivers also add G-SYNC support for several new monitors, and GeForce Experience optimizations. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 496.49 WHQL

Microsoft is gearing up for release of the Definitive Edition for Age of Empires III, the latest release (looking way back at 2005) in the acclaimed RTS series. The new Definitive Edition will see 4K graphics, rebuilt 3D assets, a modernized UI, cross-play multiplayer, and fully enhanced soundtrack and audio. It will also feature all expansions released for the original game (The WarChiefs and The Asian Dynasties). All in all, we're talking about three full campaigns, and a total of 16 playable civilizations (14 from the original game and expansions, and two new factions in the form of the Incas and Swedes).

Interesting to note is that Microsoft realized they weren't faithfully representing Native American civilizations and their cultures in the original game, and "worked with tribal consultants to respectfully and accurately capture the uniqueness of their peoples, history, and cultures". As a result, "returning players will find there's been some fundamental changes to the Native American civilizations ".

Microsoft is apparently planning to take care of their Age of Mythology games series in the future. If anything, Adam Isgreen being Creative Director for Age of Empires at Microsoft saying so must surely mean it. However, this will only be done post current plans for the Age of Empires franchise, as Adam Isgreen said that they'll devote time to Age of Mythology "after we get through the Definitive Editions for the three here, and [Age of Empires] 4 is kind of rolling".

Age of Mythology takes a pretty creative look at mythology (which could be seen as a creative source material in and of itself), but that's part of what makes the game fun. It has already been treated to an Age of Mythology: Extended Edition back in 2014, so we'll have to wait on whether Microsoft is planning of releasing a Definitive Edition of the game, or a full-blown sequel altogether.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, which was released yesterday, is currently a Windows 10 exclusive. Essentially, what that means is that players can only get the game through the dreaded Windows Store. Microsoft previously blamed Valve for not wanting Age of Empires: Definitive Edition on their Steam platform, but then stated that the move was possible if the platforms pledge their unconditional support for Windows 10. In a recent interview with PC Games Network, Adam Isgreen suggested that Age of Empires: Definitive Edition could possibly arrive on Steam in a near future. As a creative director, Adam has little control over game distribution, however, he fully recognizes that some users suffer from annoying issues with the Windows 10 Store.

Relic Entertainment today announced that they were shifting focus and developing resources from developing any further content for Dawn of War III. As the third iteration in the RTS series has seen lukewarm response form critics, gamers, and the market as a whole, the company has said that "When a game underperforms, plans need to change. With Dawn of War 3, we simply don't have the foundation we need to produce major content. We're working in close partnership with Sega and Games Workshop to determine the best course of action, while shifting focus to other projects within our portfolio."

This likely means that no further updates will be delivered to the game, leaving players who were expecting to receive a new playable race in future DLC drops will remain wanting. Luckily, this means that Relic now has more resources to power onto other studio projects - one such could be the next iteration in the acclaimed Age of Empires franchise, which the company is currently working on. With Dawn of War being as expansive a universe as it is, it seems unlikely that the series will be put on ice and development of a franchise-related game won't be developed for Relic; however, that could still be an option. It remains to be seen what game,s and what projects, Relic Entertainment will choose to invest in.

Microsoft's original plan was to launch Age of Empires: Definitive Edition on October 19 of last year to commemorate the franchise's 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, there was a setback in the game's development, and the launch date was pushed to early 2018. Age of Empires aficionados can finally rejoice. Adam Isgreen, Creative Director at Microsoft, announced yesterday that the highly-anticipated remake is making its way to Windows 10 PCs on February 20 for $19.99. Adam also took the opportunity to remind us that the Definitive Edition isn't your normal everyday remake. It actually comes with many huge improvements like:

• Completely rebuilding assets for a modern 4K presentation
• Letting you play online with Xbox LIVE (in addition to LAN play)
• Re-recorded the original soundtrack with a new orchestral score
• Adding campaign narration for every mission
• Enhancing the campaign and scenario editor, which allows anyone to make original custom campaigns for the game, by letting players easily share them with other players around the world via AgeOfEmpires.com

I remember Age of Empires II fondly; it was my first PC game, really. The intro sequence of chess really served to put my young mind racing towards ideas of military movements and countermovements, and led me towards devouring historical romances accompanying the exploits of Alexander the Great (Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novels), and Hannibal Barca (I'm partial to Ross Leckie in this one). Now, Microsoft has announced yet another installment in this PC-exclusive series, after Age of Empires III's somewhat lukewarm reception. Age of Empires IV is coming for all of your medieval RTS needs.