The Game Census
Age of Empires II (Retired) cover art

Age of Empires II (Retired)

Skybox Labs · Xbox Game Studios · 2013-04-09

Steam

Strategy

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Apr 09, 2013 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition. With the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this product will not be updated further.

Age of Empires II (Retired) is a 2013 Strategy game priced at $19.99, with an estimated 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 102,849 reviews).

1,950
playing now
96%
positive of 103k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
5,000,000–10,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
50/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
84/100
IGDB user rating (226 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$19.99
steam price (US)

1,950 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 10:00 UTC (census sample)

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh in 2001, it is the second game in the Age of Empires series. The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains 13 playable civilizations. Players aim to gather resources, which they use to build towns, create armies, and defeat their enemies. There are 5 historically based campaigns, which conscript the player to specialized and story-backed conditions, and 3 additional single-player game modes; multiplayer is also supported.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 1,950 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 883 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~110/week).
  • · Review velocity down 21% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (3,444 reviews).
  • · Top 1% of 14,082 Strategy games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 4.1M–8.2M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 102,930 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $2.99 at Steam (2015-06-19)via IsThereAnyDeal

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
3.4k3.4k20182026Week of 2018-03-01: 434 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 499 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 32 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 470 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 536 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 592 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 350 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 263 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 283 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 2,283 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 52 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 675 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 498 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 521 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 374 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 284 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 348 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 2,233 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 52 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 2,543 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 274 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 69 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 188 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 454 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 3,387 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 1,926 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 1,440 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 1,120 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 1,868 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 2,082 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 55 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 1,414 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 899 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 824 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 744 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 644 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 642 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 900 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 789 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 768 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 626 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 576 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 588 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 504 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 396 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 454 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 421 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 391 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 394 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 515 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 408 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 422 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 357 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 351 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 327 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 272 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 311 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 291 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 291 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 251 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 279 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 313 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 320 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 321 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 276 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 242 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 198 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 208 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 216 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 245 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 213 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 191 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 194 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 271 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 211 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 244 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 210 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 186 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 165 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 167 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 148 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 185 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 169 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 182 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 195 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 164 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 144 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 155 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 178 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 129 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 124 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 132 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 153 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 121 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 137 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 137 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 148 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 132 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 137 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 124 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 119 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 80 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-10-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2026-10-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

3.4k1.7k2026-09-15 11:00 — 2,088 players2026-09-16 19:00 — 2,746 players2026-09-18 03:00 — 1,838 players2026-09-19 10:00 — 2,552 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 3,376 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 2,076 players2026-09-23 09:00 — 1,830 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 2,818 players2026-09-26 00:00 — 2,193 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 2,302 players2026-09-28 15:00 — 2,831 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 2,140 players2026-10-01 06:00 — 1,762 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 2,772 players2026-10-03 21:00 — 2,817 players2026-10-05 05:00 — 1,745 players2026-10-06 13:00 — 2,556 players2026-10-07 20:00 — 2,567 players2026-10-09 04:00 — 1,895 players2026-10-10 11:00 — 2,658 players2026-10-11 19:00 — 3,354 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 1,935 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 1,950 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
13k1.4kApr 2013Aug 2026Apr 2013 — avg 5,142 · peak 11,761Sep 2013 — avg 1,523 · peak 2,984Feb 2014 — avg 2,832 · peak 5,827Jul 2014 — avg 3,311 · peak 8,960Dec 2014 — avg 4,303 · peak 13,083May 2015 — avg 3,300 · peak 5,937Oct 2015 — avg 3,379 · peak 6,323Mar 2016 — avg 5,034 · peak 9,602Aug 2016 — avg 4,971 · peak 8,499Jan 2017 — avg 8,932 · peak 19,057Jun 2017 — avg 7,115 · peak 14,948Nov 2017 — avg 7,639 · peak 18,002Apr 2018 — avg 8,154 · peak 15,873Sep 2018 — avg 7,359 · peak 13,025Feb 2019 — avg 9,780 · peak 18,931Jul 2019 — avg 9,868 · peak 17,025Dec 2019 — avg 7,093 · peak 12,305May 2020 — avg 10,102 · peak 21,753Oct 2020 — avg 5,535 · peak 9,577Mar 2021 — avg 5,175 · peak 9,400Aug 2021 — avg 4,259 · peak 6,363Jan 2022 — avg 4,398 · peak 7,149Jun 2022 — avg 3,624 · peak 5,432Nov 2022 — avg 3,619 · peak 5,580Apr 2023 — avg 3,606 · peak 5,558Sep 2023 — avg 3,126 · peak 4,626Feb 2024 — avg 3,215 · peak 4,982Jul 2024 — avg 2,888 · peak 4,128Dec 2024 — avg 3,062 · peak 4,669May 2025 — avg 2,673 · peak 4,087Oct 2025 — avg 2,585 · peak 3,948Mar 2026 — avg 2,563 · peak 3,966Aug 2026 — avg 2,397 · peak 3,532
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
20202026-09-212026-10-142026-09-21: 20 new positive2026-09-23: 2 new positive2026-09-25: 2 new positive2026-09-26: 3 new positive2026-09-27: 7 new positive2026-09-28: 1 new positive2026-09-30: 2 new positive2026-10-02: 2 new positive2026-10-03: 1 new positive2026-10-04: 4 new positive2026-10-05: 2 new positive2026-10-06: 2 new positive2026-10-07: 4 new positive2026-10-08: 8 new positive2026-10-09: 2 new positive2026-10-09: 1 new negative2026-10-10: 2 new positive2026-10-11: 6 new positive2026-10-12: 9 new positive2026-10-12: 1 new negative2026-10-13: 3 new positive
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$19.99$2.992015-01-012023-01-052015-01-01 — best price $3.992015-03-06 — best price $5.992015-06-11 — best price $6.792015-06-22 — best price $19.992015-11-09 — best price $19.992015-12-01 — best price $19.992016-01-04 — best price $19.992016-02-12 — best price $19.992016-07-04 — best price $19.992016-11-29 — best price $19.992017-01-02 — best price $19.992017-02-20 — best price $19.992017-07-05 — best price $19.992017-11-28 — best price $19.992017-12-09 — best price $19.992018-01-04 — best price $19.992018-02-19 — best price $19.992018-04-26 — best price $19.992018-07-05 — best price $19.992018-08-02 — best price $19.992018-11-27 — best price $19.992018-12-10 — best price $19.992019-01-04 — best price $19.992019-02-11 — best price $19.992019-05-23 — best price $19.992019-05-27 — best price $19.992019-06-08 — best price $19.992019-06-17 — best price $19.992019-07-09 — best price $19.992020-07-13 — best price $19.992022-01-27 — best price $4.992022-02-02 — best price $19.992022-06-17 — best price $19.992022-07-22 — best price $19.992022-09-06 — best price $19.992023-01-05 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

5623192026-05-31 — 523 pageviews2026-06-04 — 423 pageviews2026-06-08 — 562 pageviews2026-06-12 — 448 pageviews2026-06-16 — 473 pageviews2026-06-20 — 470 pageviews2026-06-24 — 426 pageviews2026-06-28 — 448 pageviews2026-07-02 — 408 pageviews2026-07-06 — 359 pageviews2026-07-10 — 319 pageviews2026-07-14 — 324 pageviews2026-07-18 — 391 pageviews2026-07-22 — 425 pageviews2026-07-26 — 410 pageviews2026-07-30 — 367 pageviews2026-08-03 — 348 pageviews2026-08-07 — 361 pageviews2026-08-11 — 360 pageviews2026-08-15 — 370 pageviews2026-08-19 — 348 pageviews2026-08-23 — 402 pageviews2026-08-27 — 369 pageviews2026-08-31 — 456 pageviews2026-09-04 — 482 pageviews2026-09-08 — 370 pageviews2026-09-12 — 385 pageviews2026-09-16 — 374 pageviews2026-09-20 — 399 pageviews2026-09-24 — 508 pageviews2026-09-28 — 488 pageviews2026-10-02 — 384 pageviews2026-10-06 — 431 pageviews2026-10-10 — 330 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
78.2%
earned "First Castle Constructed"
35.5%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsCaptions availableSteam WorkshopSteam CloudStatsSteam LeaderboardsIncludes level editor3 DLC

10 supported languages: English, German, French, Italian, Korean, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Dutch

Post-launch support: 3 DLC released, first 2013-11-07, latest 2016-12-19 (Steam store data)

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

RTSCo-opClassicMedievalStrategyTacticalReal-TimeHistoricalCompetitiveMultiplayer

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Blitzkrieg 3PraetoriansOrder of Battle: World War IIAncestors LegacyBad North: Jotunn EditionBANNERMENAge of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition

Similarity via IGDB.

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