Multiplayer Issues Blight Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Launch

Despite Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launching less than two hours ago, players are unable to play multiplayer games. | Credit: AP/Kamil Zihnioglu

• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched today.
• Players are unable to join, create, or play multiplayer games.
• Xbox and Forgotten Empires are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.

Today hasn’t been the kindest to Microsoft. After The Witcher 3 joining the Xbox Game Pass leak earlier, the multiplayer component of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, released today, isn’t working.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Servers Are Down

Despite the game officially going live a little over an hour ago, players are unable to connect to the multiplayer servers, find, or launch games against other players.

Streamers such as T90Official are also reporting problems downloading and installing mods for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Other players also report crashes and an inability to launch multiplayer games on local networks.

From what we understand, the issues affect all players regardless of whether they purchased the game via Steam or the Microsoft Store.

Publisher Xbox Game Studios and developer Forgotten Empires are aware of the issue affecting Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, as evidenced by a Tweet sent out in the last hour. They are working to pinpoint and resolve the problem but didn’t prove any other details. They’ve promised updates as the situation evolves, but we’ve yet to hear anything since.

A Sad Start To A Big Day For The Community

The issues are denting what is supposed to be an auspicious day for the close-knit Age of Empires II community. The servers going down for what is predominantly a multiplayer title with a vibrant, competitive scene doesn’t bode well. And this, despite a positive lead up to release with favorable reviews across the board.

Professional players and streamers alike are playing single-player games against AI opponents to will away the time in anticipation of a fix. Any plans to dive into multiplayer and planned show matches between top players are put on hold for the time being.

With Microsoft juggling the cross-promotional release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and an anticipated Age of Empires IV update during today’s Inside Xbox at X019 broadcast, things haven’t got off to the best start.