This past year of 2020 has been full of challenges and celebrations in the Age of Empires community. The year was jam packed with tournaments for just about every Age game as listed below.

Tournaments

• ESOC Winter Championship 2020, December 6, 2019 – March 5, 2020
• Nili’s Apartment Cup 3, January 4 – 12, 2020
• Age of Empires: DE Classic Cup, February 7 – March 16, 2020
• Hidden Cup 3, February 17 – March 22, 2020
• Visible Cup, March 30 – May 24, 2020
• Age of Empires Online Beorix’s Brawl, April 4 – 12, 2020
• Red Bull Wololo, April 30 – May 3, 2020
• Battle of Africa 2, May 16 – June 7, 2020
• Beginner Cup, May 18 – June 14, 2020
• Death Match World Cup 3, June 1 – August 2, 2020
• Age of Empires Online Cup of Beer 6, July 18 – August 9, 2020
• Clown Cup 3, June 27 – July 26, 2020
• Big Nomad Cup, July 28 – August 30, 2020
• Wars of Liberty Jamboree 3, July 29 – October 10, 2020
• Hera’s Dojo, August 5 – August 26, 2020
• Battle of the North, August 7 – 16, 2020
• Red Bull Wololo 2, August 7 – 23, 2020
• Battle of the Four, August 29 – 30, 2020
• Empire Wars Duo, August 31 – September 13, 2020
• Death Match Rising Star 3, August 31 – September 27, 2020
• Llama’s Chaos Cup, September 5 – October 4, 2020
• Eagle Scout Cup, September 12 – October 17, 2020
• King of the Desert 3, September 14 – October 25, 2020
• Masters of RMS, October 5, 2020
• Town Bell Cup 3, October 10 – 11, 2020
• Knights of the Empire, October 10 – December 5, 2020
• Double Cup, October 19 – December 6, 2020
• Cusu Cup, November 2 – 28, 2020
• Artemiz’s Beginner Cup, November 2 – November 29, 2020
• Eagle Warrior Cup, November 2 – December 12, 2020
• MundoAoE League 2, November 2 – December 20, 2020
• 3rd Brazilian Age of Empires: DE Championship, November 7, 2020
• Age of Mythology: Deathmatch League Season 1, November 7 – 29, 2020
• Winter’s War, November 9 – December 20, 2020
• World Cup 2020, November 9 – December 20, 2020
• Age of Empires Online The Prez Holiday Invitational, December 18 – 19, 2020

In response to community feedback and bug reports many updates were released this year in support of recent releases and an old favorite. The game updates also featured events, which were a welcome addition to add replay-ability to Age of Empires II: DE and Age of Empires III: DE. There have been 11 events for Age of Empires II: DE since the beginning of the year and 2 events for Age of Empires III: DE since the game released on October 15, 2020. There have been 4 updates for Age of Empires: DE, 10 updates and 6 hotfixes for Age of Empires II: DE, 6 updates and 3 hotfixes for Age of Empires III: DE and 1 update for Age of Mythology: Extended Edition. The full list of updates and hotfixes from the past year is shown below.

Releases

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Game Updates

Age of Empires: DE

• January 15, 2020 – Update 34483
• February 20, 2020 – Update 35199
• April 14, 2020 – Update 36211
• July 6, 2020 – Update 38862

Age of Empires II: DE

• January 13, 2020 – Hotfix 34397
• January 21, 2020 – Update 34699, Event: Lunar New Year
• January 23, 2020 – Hotfix 34793
• February 13, 2020 – Hotfix 35209
• February 27, 2020 – Update 35584, Event: Age of Empires: DE Anniversary
• March 30, 2020 – Update 36202, Event: Spring Celebration
• April 29, 2020 – Update 36906, Event: Greatest Medieval Technologies
• May 27, 2020 – Update 37650, Event: May-hem
• June 2, 2020 – Hotfix 37906
• July 20, 2020 – Update 39284, Event: Mongolian Civ Celebration
• July 27, 2020 – Hotfix 39515
• August 24, 2020 – Update 40220, Event: Summer World Tour
• September 22, 2020 – Update 40874, Event: Teuton Civ Celebration
• October 20, 2020 – Update 41855, Event: Age of Empires III: DE Launch
• November 17, 2020 – Update 42848, Event: Age of Empires II: DE Anniversary
• November 24, 2020 – Hotfix 43210
• December 9, 2020 – Event: Winter Celebration

Age of Empires III: DE

• October 22, 2020 – Update 3552
• October 27, 2020 – Hotfix 4087
• October 30, 2020 – Update 5025
• November 5, 2020 – Update 5208
• November 12, 2020 – Update 6159
• November 18, 2020 – Hotfix 6847
• December 8, 2020 – Update 9476, Event: Inaugural
• December 17, 2020 – Update 10807, Event: Winter Wonderland
• December 19, 2020 – Hotfix 11148

Age of Mythology: EE

June 29, 2020 – Update 2.8

Your Experience

About a week ago I asked on Twitter the following question, “What was one of the most memorable or significant things which happened for you in the Age of Empires community this year?” I received several responses.

most memorable moment for me was cocasting the semi-finals of Death Match Rising Star 3 with @tatohaoe. SO EPIC.

it's also so exciting to see the beginners from that tournament competing for the top 100 of the 1v1 DM ladder now. 2020 was a fantastic year for AoE 🥳

— Brisolyn 🥬👑 (@Brisolyn) December 28, 2020

Seeing the @AgeOfEmpires community raise A$20,202 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia in August 🙀@Starlight_star

— Bebe ✨ (@LilTrouble__) December 28, 2020

The founding of @AgeofQueens_aoe! 💖

— noelle🌸 (@thenoellecat) December 28, 2020

Many other people were simply glad they had the opportunity to play the game and make new friends. What was your experience? Leave a comment below!

The Present

During this last week in December 2020, there has been some recent announcements which are well worth checking out as well.

• CaptureAge for Age of Empires II: DE Released, December 28, 2020
• Age of Empires 2020 in Review with Shannon Loftis, December 29, 2020

The Future

What does the future hold for Age of Empires? Shannon Loftis gave us some clues. What we know for sure are the events listed below.

• Redbull Wololo 3 Tournament, January 2 – 24, 2020
• Age of Empires II: DE “Lords of the West” DLC, January 26, 2021

While I tried to compile a complete list of events during the past year, there are likely a few which have been missed. Please leave a comment below with your feedback! May everyone in the Age of Empires community have a happy, safe and prosperous new year!