Image credit: Microsoft

Here's something you don't hear very often, especially in a month as destructive as the one Xbox is having: Microsoft is seemingly uncancelling something; specifically its previously announced and then subsequently abandoned Age of Empires 3 DLC, which is now set to arrive this September.

Microsoft announced a fresh bit of DLC for Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition back in February 2023. And while it was cagey on the specifics, it offered a release window of "late 2024". However, late 2024 brought news of a delay from Microsoft, which wrote, "With many active projects across the franchise, we'll be pushing out the release for the DLC to a future date." Still Age of Empires 3 fans waited and still nothing came, until word of its cancellation arrived last January. At the time, Microsoft admitted announcing the DLC before the team had even started working on it might have been "premature".

Almost exactly 16 months later, it appears the DLC has been revived. Not only that, it's been given a title - The Baltic Powers - a release date, and first details.

"The Age 3 community has continued to show incredible passion for the game and that enthusiasm hasn't gone unnoticed," Microsoft wrote on the Age of Empires blog. "In response to your passion and feedback, we are excited to announce that a brand-new expansion is coming to Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition on 10th September, 2026."

The Baltic Powers brings two new civilisations - The Danes and the Poles - plus 25 new maps, 50+ hero customisations, and new game modes. All of which promise "new strategic problems to solve, new matchups to learn, new ways to master the map, and new reasons to return for a game they love."

Going a little deeper, The Poles are said to combine "lower building costs, civic bonuses, and a booming Folwark economy with battlefield-shaking cavalry options", while the Danes enable players to "use the Customs House to leverage shipments from other players from the start, strengthen your economy as you advance through the ages, and defend your territory with Snaphane and Gunboat levies".

As for those new game modes, Regicide is - just as it sounds - a race to kill the enemy Regent, while Independence "removes the safety net of Home City support and challenges you to win through strategy, fundamentals, and battlefield execution." Scenarios-wise, there's Commonwealth Charge and Havana Heat. Both those, and other more involved bits relating to the DLC, can be found in Microsoft's announcement.

Word of a DLC revival for Age of Empires 3 fans is a bit of good news amid the devastation caused by Asha Sharma's recent "reset" of Microsoft's gaming division, which will see 3,200 Xbox employees lose their jobs by next July. Since that news broke, Microsoft has been looking to regain control of the narrative, seeding positive new announcements including the launch of Xbox backward compatibility on PC and a big Bethesda blow-out featuring vague talk of the long-awaited Elder Scrolls 6.

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