One of the greatest real-time strategy games ever is making its way to macOS (again). Publisher Feral Interactive announced today it will bring Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to Apple computers through Steam on May 28, with an App Store release to follow later this year. Feral worked with World’s Edge, the studio that has managed the Age of Empires franchise for Microsoft since 2019, to develop the port.
Like its PC counterpart, the Definitive Edition on Mac will include content from AoE2’s original Age of Kings release alongside its highly regarded The Conquerors expansion. It also comes with three pieces of more recent DLC: Lords of the West, Dynasties of India and Dawn of the Dukes. Between those, you could easily spend hundreds of hours playing all the included single player campaigns. (I know I did.) This being a remake, you also get updated graphics, music and about two decades of quality of life improvements.
For multiplayer, you will also have access to many of the civilizations that are in the game. If you’re still keen to play more AoE2 after all that, every piece of DLC available for the PC version of the game, up to and including the most recent The Last Chieftains expansion, will be available to purchase separately.
Technically, this isn’t the first time Age of Empires II has been available on Mac. The original game arrived on Mac back in 2001, but this is the first time the Definitive Edition has been available on Apple’s operating system since it was released on PC back in 2019. Notably, this is the first Microsoft title to make its way to Mac since Psychonauts 2 in 2021. Seven years is a long time to wait for a game to release on another platform, but the nice thing about Age of Empires II is the community hasn’t left the game. On Steam, there are consistently about 20,000 people playing at any time, so you can always find a match.
