Update (Tue 16th May, 2023 18:00 BST):

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition's Return of Rome expansion is available today, launching on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The price is just £9.99 / $12.74, and even less if you're an Xbox Game Pass member!

We'll throw the link and some screenshots of the expansion down below.


Original story (Tue 25th Apr, 2023 18:00 BST):

Microsoft has announced that the first Age of Empires title is effectively returning as an expansion pack for Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. The 'Return of Rome' teaser (which you can watch above) showcases the new DLC pack in action, which will add 17 AoE civilisations to the recent remaster.

One of those civs is a brand-new one coming for the first time with this DLC pack, while the other group of 16 is formed of every civilisation from the original game. Here's how Xbox describes this new Age of Empires mashup:

"Welcome to Return of Rome, a completely new type of expansion pack which brings Age of Empires, the title that started it all, into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as a brand new self-contained experience. This new expansion will allow you to challenge friends with the original sixteen Age of Empires civilizations — plus one brand-new Return of Rome exclusive civilization, the Lac Viet— and relive the triumph and trials of antiquity.

Battle your way across the ancient world with three new campaigns featuring conquerors, empire-builders, and gifted tacticians fighting desperately against fate! As an additional bonus, the Romans will no longer be bound by time as they become a new playable civilization within Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, ready to battle in the new Age."

As this is just a teaser for now, Microsoft hasn't fully detailed its rollout plans for the upcoming Age of Empires 2 DLC pack, including whether the expansion will come to Xbox consoles day and date - or if at all. We'd expect it to arrive on Xbox given the excellent console port of the base game, but until we have confirmation of platforms, we can't say for sure!

Would you like to play this DLC for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition? Let us know if you're hoping it comes to Xbox in the near future!

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