1999's Age of Empires 2 Getting an Expansion

Happy Friday everyone! Having a good end of the week?

You will be if you happen to be a fan of the 1999 RTS Age of Empires 2: developed by Ensemble Studios, published by Microsoft, and released for PC, Mac OS, and the PlayStation 2. It was pretty popular in its day as the second game to a popular RTS franchise, and a few years ago it got a HD re-release on Steam. But apparently, despite its age and relative obsoleteness, Ensemble has just announced its plans on making a new expansion pack for the sixteen-year-old game!

“You can anticipate a lot packed in there, including new civs, campaigns, game modes, units, and more. If your focus is more on the original AOEII experience, the new content development means you can look forward to additional support and features that benefit every owner.”

Kind of a random announcement, huh? Well, it’s not actually that strange, as this is secretly the second expansion the game’s ever had: The Forgotten was a mod developed by players that impressed Microsoft so much they made it official, and this one, while properly developed from start to finish, looks to follow that trend.

As for why? Why not? Still a good game, and there must be people still buying it, so what the hell? If it’s still being patched, it can get an update to boot.

SO while we may know next to nothing about it, this is still pretty cool, and exactly the reason people like PC games so much. I’d like to see Sony do the same for Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage.

…no, seriously, I’d love to see that. I’m holding out for you, Sony!