WMG / Age of Empires II

Confirmed

All of the new civilizations in the Definitive Edition will have access to Paladins and Heavy Cavalry Archers with Parthian Tactics

Since the new civilizations (Cumans, Bulgarians, Tatars, and Lithuanians) were historically known for their cavalry, it's very likely that all four of the civilizations will have access to Paladins and Heavy Cavalry Arhcers with Parthian Tactics.

• Or at the very least, the Central Asian civs get Parthian Tactics (both get the lanced Steppe Riders, so there will be balance-based considerations), Lithuanians get Paladins (they're better-known for light/heavy cavalry than horse archery) and Bulgarians get both (especially given the heavy Slavic and Turkic influences)
• Mostly confirmed. All of the four new civs will have access to Heavy Cavalry Archers and Parthian Tactics. 3 of the four civilizations (Cumans, Bulgarians, and Lithuanians) had access to Paladins at release, though Bulgarians lost them in an update. Nevertheless, both Bulgarian and Tatar unique units are heavy cavalry that overlap with Paladins in function.

Several scenarios in the campaigns (particularly the Forgotten campaigns) will be reworked in the Definitive Edition.

Much like Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition will have several of the scenarios in the older campaigns reworked to fit the more modern standards of the Age of Empires 2 HD campaigns. In particular, many of the scenarios in the Forgotten campaigns will be made easier and less tedious than the HD version.

• Just 'recasting' old campaigns with filler civilizations with civs that were included in the expansion and giving them the correct AI would change the gameplay somewhat. For example, playing against Slavs and Italians in Barbarossa, Tatars and Slavs in Genghis Khan, or Berbers in El Cid.
  • There could even be player changes because of historical reasons. For example, GK 3 has the Tanguts and Xi Xia as different factions when they were the same kingdom (Tangut people, Xi Xia dynasty), Hattin had no British soldiers (but there were Italians), Barbarossa did not invade Poland but Henry the Lion invaded the Slavic Wends and Pomeranians, etc.
• Confirmed regarding the Italian cities and certain other civilizations in the Barbarossa campaign. In Holy Roman Emperor, the Bohemians are now represented by the Slavs, while the Mongols have been replaced with the Cumans (which is more historically accurate, considering the Mongols had not yet settled in Eastern Europe by the 12th Century). Everything else is on the air.
• Confirmed for the Genghis Khan campaign:
  • In Crucible, the Kereyids are changed from Turks to Mongols, while the historically Turkic Uighurs are now the Tatars instead of the Mongols.
  • In The Horde Rides West, the Russians are accurately depicted as the Slavs instead of the Goths, while the Mongol Merkids are replaced with the Cuman Kipchaks.
  • In The Promise, the Polish are given the Slavs tech tree instead of the Goths tech tree. However, the Bohemians are still represented by the Teutons, despite being switched to the Slavs in the Barbarossa campaign. This could be due to the culture of Medieval Bohemia being much closer to the Roman Catholic Teutons than the Eastern Orthodox Kievan Rus', the main inspiration for the Slavs civilization.
  • In Pax Mongolia, the Hungarians are properly depicted as the Magyars instead of the Teutons. Not only is this more historically accurate, it helps the scenario live up to its opening cutscene, which stresses the cavalry prowess of the Hungarians (aside from the Paladin upgrade, the Teutons don't have great cavalry and specialize more in their Teutonic Knight infantry, whereas the Magyars have not only tanky Paladins, but also superlative Cavalry Archers and a strong light cavalry unique unit).
• Also confirmed that the Incan campaign, El Dorado, in HD, was replaced with Pachacuti campaign instead. In fact, all of the Forgotten campaigns were reworked to match the more modern standards of Age of Empires 2 campaigns.
  • As of Dawn of the Dukes, the Black Guards in El Cid's campaign are now Berbers, the Poles in both Barbarossa, and Genghis Khan's campaign are Poles while in the first Barbarossa Scenario Bohemia and Burgundy are now represented by Bohems and Burgundians, with the latter also appearing in all the Joan of Arc campaign as enemies.

Several civilization tech trees and civilization bonuses in the Definitive Edition will be reworked to be more "historically accurate."

It's very likely that many of the original and HD civilizations will have their tech trees and their civilization bonuses be reworked to be more "historically accurate." One example could be the Chinese civilization will be reworked from being a Jack of All Trades civilization, to a civilization that's more specialized in ranged units and siege weapons with the Chinese having access to Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons ^note since the Chinese don't have access to these units for gameplay balance reasons and the Chu-Ko Nu being a ridiculously strong unique unit when massed up. in exchange for a weaker infantry and cavalry frontline (i.e. lack of Bloodlines).

• Somewhat confirmed. The Persian Castle Age unique tech was reworked where their archer line units become trash units (it's supposed to be based on an archer battalion, Kamandaran, in the Sasanian Empire). And one of the Korean civ bonuses was reworked where all of their military units except siege units have a wood discount (to more or less reflect on the Korean naval dominance). The Chinese still don't have access to gunpowder units and block printing though since no changes were made to the Chinese.
• Later on the Chinese got Block Printing but lost Redemption in compensation. The Mongols and Lithuanians received Steppe Lancers and Winged Hussars, respectively. But the most ambitious rework was the Indians becoming Hindustanis with the Dynasties of India DLC, which made them openly based on the Muslim dynasties of northern India, while the Indians' former Wonder and fishing bonus was transferred to a new Dravidian civilization, and the unique Elephant Archer became a generic archery range unit (which the Hindustanis ironically have no access to).
• With Return of Rome, the Byzantines and Goths lost access to bombard cannon in return for the new Dromon siege ship armed with a catapult (also available to the Huns, who had once access to bombard cannon too but lost it).

The scenario editor in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition will have more features than the scenario editor in the HD edition

The scenario editor will be more complex when compared to the HD edition. There will be additional triggers and effects that will allow unique tricks such as making units invulnerable, or allow the terrain to be changed. It's also likely that the devs will add a feature that will allow the custom scenario designer to build an AI from the spot with more simplistic features rather than having to code the AI itself.

• Mostly confirmed. In fact, the entire triggers system has been reworked to resemble the trigger system in Age of Empires III and Age of Mythology, including new triggers that allows you to manipulate the civilization tech trees and even civilization names, meaning you can have scenarios where the Chinese have access to Hand Cannoneers, Bombard Cannons, and Block Printing, or use "placeholder" civs to represent civilizations that have never been implemented in Age of Empires 2, such as Tibetans, Mapuche, and Swiss. So far, there isn't a built in AI builder in the game, but we'll wait and see.

All building styles will get unique land trade units in the DE (or semi-unique), like Kings, and possibly also Monks

• Rickshaw: Mesoamericans, currently also Incas but perhaps they get their own llama caravan unit
• Horse cart: Western, Central, and Eastern Europeans, maybe Mediterraneans
• Donkey: Africans, Mediterraneans (if they don't get the horse cart)
• Camel: Middle Easterners, Indians, and Central Asians
• Ox cart: East and Southeast Asians
  • Jossed, the new pack camel and ox carts are just Campaign/Editor only units (the camel being turned into a second UU of the Tatars after updates).
  • Un-jossed and now confirmed: after an update, Middle-Eastern and Indian civs have the camel cart, Africans have a new ox cart and East Asians and Southeast Asians have a water buffalo cart. No change for Monks yet though.

One of the DLC expansions will focus on India

More than any other civilization, the Indians are the one most criticized for not being split into multiple factions. On top of being the only civilization with the South Asian architecture set, the Indian subcontinent is far too culturally diverse for a single civ to fully represent, not to mention the vanilla Indians civilization's intense focus on Camel Riders (which weren't even as commonly deployed in India as they were in the Saracen and Berber empires) and lack of War/Battle Elephants makes them a lackluster representation as a whole, only really covering late northern Indian empires like the Delhi Sultanate and Mughals. Possible new civilizations include the Tamils/Dravidians (one of the most-requested civs still not in the game, who also make a prominent appearance in the Suryavarman I campaign), the Chalukyas (representative of western India, were an important development to medieval India's cultural achievements), and Bengals/Bengalis (representing the eastern Indian subcontinent, probably the best candidate for an Indian civilization that specializes in Battle Elephants, and they were also notable for their universities and use of artillery). Also possible would be the Afghans, representative mostly of the Ghurid Empire (which existed separately from the Persian Khwarazm Empire). Not only would they be an ideal third civilization to use the Central Asian architecture set, but they would also be the basis for a Muhammad Ghori campaign, which would nicely compliment the Prithviraj campaign and heavily feature Indian civs as rival factions (particularly the Bengals and original Indians).

• Confirmed. In Dynasties of India, the Indians were worked into Hindustanis and three new civilizations with the Indian architectural style were introduced: the Bengalis, Gurjaras, and Dravidians. Most new civs have access to Battle Elephants and Archer Elephants, now demoted to a regional unit, though the Hindustanis don't.

One of the DLC expansions will focus on Northern Europe

Since Lords of the West did not introduce a Poles civilization or Lithuanian campaign, this would be a more fitting second chance. Additionally, a Northern European expansion would be the perfect chance to introduce full campaigns for the Vikings and Slavs. A possible second civilization would be the Bohemians or Moravians, who are Western Slavs like the Poles, but distinct in their own right.

• Semi-confirmed with the release of Dawn of the Dukes, which introduces Poles and Bohemians and gives a campaign and new unit for the Lithuanians.

One of the DLC expansions will have a Late Antiquity theme

This would be the best way to incorporate the Vandals as a new civilization, as well as introduce a full campaign for the Persians. Other possible new civs include the Gepids or Avars, the Lombards (a more primitive, Germanic alternative to the Italians civilization), and the Scythians, the latter of which were strongly considered for The Forgotten but got scrapped due to being too old; a Late Antiquity expansion pack however would be a more suitable home for them.

• Confirmed but in a different way - Return of Rome adds a port to play the ancient civilizations of Age of Empires on the Age of Empires II engine, and also a civilization based on the Western Roman Empire (286-480 AD) for the latter game. Other "Barbarian" civilizations are unlikely due to how similar they would be to the Goths and Huns (who do get some attention in the expansion, including a new perk in the new Dromon ship, however).

Jossed

The Definitive Edition will have modding support that will allow modders to add new civilizations, units, techs, buildings, etc.

Since the developers confirmed that they will not add any more civilizations after the Definitive Edition release, the devs will most likely add modding support that will allow modders to add their own civilizations on their own so that the fanbase will stop bothering them on adding more civilizations (since modding HD is only limited to modding existing civilizations or editing unit/building textures). It's also been confirmed by the developers that there will be modding support beyond just editing textures and user interface, so that's a possibility.

• Jossed. The DE makes downloading and installing/uninstalling mods much easier but not making them.

In the DE, Byzantines will speak Greek and Italians will speak Tuscan

They currently use the same voices (faulty Latin) due to the first introduction of the Italians in a fan mod that reused the Byzantine lines, and modders can't change one without the other. In addition, people have been complaining that Byzantines had Greek as their official language for most of the Medieval period, since the game came out. Since they are redoing the game from scratch including all dialogues, it makes sense that they'd put this issue to rest just like they did with the enduring requests to give the Byzantines the Mediterranean building set. It's more debatable if they'd go as far as getting a Gothic speaker for the Goths, though.

• Jossed. Both the Byzantines and Italians still speaks Latin. The Goths' language is also unchanged.

Incas, Mongols, and Huns will have their own building style in the DE

The reason they are conspicuously absent from the trailers and stills released so far (bar one with Mongols showing only the Wonder and yurts) is because they are still implementing and testing them.

• Jossed. The Incas retain the same Mesoamerican architecture shared with the Aztecs and Mayans, the Mongols still use the East Asian architecture set, and the Huns retain the Central European set. However, in addition to the Spanish and Byzantines switching to the Italian/Portuguese Mediterranean set, the Vietnamese now use the East Asian architecture instead of the Southeast Asian architecture in response to fan suggestions.

The infantry flail unit in the Bulgarian screenshot is a (Bulgarian) hero unit

It is identical to the mounted flail that is all but confirmed to be the Bulgarian unique unit, except for being unmounted. It makes little sense that it would be another unit (unique or otherwise), although it could be another editor only infantry, like the Northern and Middle-Eastern Swordsman.

• It's been announced that the Bulgarian campaign will be about Ivaylo. If that unit is him, a swineherd who unexpectedly became emperor, he could be explained in-universe as having never learned to ride.
• Jossed, the dismounted version spawns when the mounted version (well, his horse) is killed.

There will be a new campaign of selected historical battles, like "Battles of the Conquerors" and "Battles of the Forgotten"

And it will be called "Definitive Battles". One of the battles will be Grunwald (1410) and the player will take command of the Lithuanians under Vytautas the Great, making up for the lack of a full Lithuanian campaign.

• Jossed, there is a Historical Campaigns folder but it's just the former Battles of the Conquerors and Battles of the Forgotten folded into one. No new scenarios but there is a Vytautas unit in the Editor.
• After Dawn of the Dukes, Grunwald is playable in both the Jadwiga and Jan Zizka campaigns from different points of view, and Vytautas appears as a secondary character in them and the Lithuanian campaign (Algirdas and Kestutis).

Mixed and unsorted

Possible new civilizations

With the HD expansions adding 13 more civilizations, Definitive Edition adding four more and the Lords of the West expansion adding a further two, there's a possibility for a couple more. In the event of a new expansion (see right below for what's already been established, with an explanation):

• The Albanians(introducing a new architectural set based on the Balkans, which could be extended to Bulgars and Byzantines as well, it could be a good idea to set a Balkan-based expansion with an Albanian campaign focused on Skanderbeg (as a Foil to Dracula) and a Turk campaign based on the Ottoman invasion).
• The Armenians (another standout Christian kingdom during the Age of Empires II time period who had close ties with the Byzantines, and had a strong Golden Age kingdom even, their tech tree would most likely be designed more like a Jack of All Trades civilization).
• The Austrian/Habsburg (alternative for the Swiss as another powerful Central European civilization and alternative for the Teutons, also good for campaigns centered around either the Balkans or Eastern Europe).
• The Georgians (a standout among the Caucasian nations, that on numerous occasions routed the Seljuk Turks; to reflect their Golden Age achievements, they would have Monk-related bonuses)
• The Kanem (representing the Sahelian kingdoms around modern day Chad and Niger, where as the Ethiopians have an emphasis fighting from a distance and Malians are an economic jack of all trades, the Kanem would be more a military powerhouse)
• The Malagasy (They would be a great civilization to represent southern Africa besides the Bantu, having played an important role in the Indian Ocean trade and forging a significant empire in the 16th century. Their Southeast Asian influences give them a distinct identity among possible new civs.)
• The Songhai (another significant Sahelian empire)
• The Swahili (the Swahili coast was a particularly influential hub of commerce, maintaining contact with Bantus, Arabs and (eventually) Europeans)
• The Swiss (another significant civilization in Europe around the medieval time period, as it consisted of a confederation of city states. Many Swiss armies served as mercenaries during the medieval period, mostly for the Vatican City)
• The Thai (among Southeast Asian empires, one that has yet to be seen. The tricky part comes as to what niche it will fill alongside elephants)
• Already been established:
  • The Balts (As Lithuanians; The original guess also included an amalgamation with the Poles, though the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is late in the game's time frame and the Poles in-game were mostly^note The final Bulgarian campaign scenario has them represented by Lithuanians, when such representation fit the time frame represented by the Slavs)
  • The Karluks (The original guess referred to Turkic peoples to the east of Europe (Uighurs, Timurids, and the like), but this too is covered under Tatars, with the campaign centered around Tamerlane)
  • The Tamils (As Dravidians; They are one of the three new civilizations (with Bengalis and Gurjaras) as the Indians got repurposed as Hindustanis)
  • The Tatars (The original guess referred to Turkic peoples in modern day Russia and Eastern Europe, encompassing the Bulgar Turks and the Golden Horde; Bulgarians have been established as a separate civilization while the Golden Horde still gets represented under the Tatars civilization, especially down to the in-game emblem; this guess is also partially represented by the Cumans civilization, which additionally covers the Khazars, Kipchaks, and Pechenegs)
  • The Wends (The original guess incorporated Westernized Slavs, particularly Bohemia and Poland, both of which became full civilizations in Dawn of the Dukes)

The small yurts were originally intended to be the houses of Nomadic building styles, with the large yurt as the Town Center equivalent

The wooden yurts would have been used by the Vikings, maybe also the Celts, and the felt yurts by the Mongols.

The Forgotten Empires developers originally wanted Tibetans in the Definitive Edition, but will cite the Chinese censors as a reason why they didn't include the civilization

It's very likely that there will be an interview with the developers after the release and someone would ask if they considered other civilizations in the game. If Tibetans were mentioned, the developers may finally reveal their reasoning why they never included Tibetans in Age of Empires 2 expansions despite numerous opportunities to add the civilization and cite Chinese censorship as the main reason.

• It's also possible that the developers accepted the Chinese government's viewpoint of "Tibet is always part of China" and are planning to create an official Chinese civilization campaign involving the Tang dynasty (as the developers stated that they are open to single player scenarios and campaigns), but will use the Chinese as a "placeholder" civilization for the Tibetans to reinforce the Chinese government's viewpoint and will engage in massive historical revisionism on the Tibetan history that will result in Overshadowed by Controversy among the fanbase (as the Chinese government is known to have engage in historical revisionism to undermine Tibetan independence and their culture).

Related to the above, several civilization bonuses and traits in expansions are leftovers of discarded Tibetan civ concepts

Burmese:

• They have powerful monks and their campaign is very tied to Buddhism, as the popular image of Tibet is. They also have powerful cavalry and poor foot archers, which the Tibetans were said to have pre-Buddhism, and their language is a distant relative of Tibetan.

Tatars:

• The hill attack bonus seems obvious as is the new animals being mountain goats and snow leopards (Tatars are just as much from the plains, particularly under the definition used in the game). The herdable bonus is somewhat related to Tibetans because the Tibetans were once pastoral nomads like the Tatars.
• The Tibetan nobility also favored spears and heavily armored horses, and the ancient Tibetans were feared raiders because of their poor homeland; both make something like the Keshik a fitting Tibetan unique unit (and to a lesser extent, the generic Steppe Lancer unit, something that the Tibetans would had have if they were implemented as a civilization).
• The free Parthian Tactics and Thumb Ring bonus can also parallel how mounted archery was prevalent among Tibetan nomads.
• The Central Asian architecture used by the Tatars have strong resemblance to the Tibetan architecture minus the University and the Monastery (which had Islamic influences from Persia and the Middle East).
• The Tibetans have interacted with many of the eastern Turkish tribes during the peak of the Tibetan empire (either as allies or enemies), even to a point where the Tibetans have ransacked Samarkand, the historical capital of the later Timurid Empire.
• Tatar sails bear the wind horse symbol, which was also historically used in Tibet.
• The Tatars also have very poor foot infantry like the Tibetans, as the Tibetans weren't known for their infantry.

Lithuanians:

• Although not culturally related, the Lithuanian team bonus of faster working Monasteries and their Paladins and Leitis gaining extra attack for every relic would more or less fit for the Tibetans, as Buddhism played a central role in shaping Tibetan culture and history during medieval times. Likewise, the relic bonus affecting the heavy cavalry units would reflect on the Tibetan use of heavy cavalry and they would be a good candidate for a rare Asian civilization with Paladins.

Bulgarians:

• The Krepost has some similarities to the Dzong architecture, as the medieval Tibetans were also known to have built extensive fortifications in the mountainous Tibetan plateau. Although it's very likely that the developers originally intended to have a civilization that have an access to a stronger version (or a direct upgrade akin to the Malay Harbor) of the Castle, as the Dzong had multi-use purposes such as administrative offices, temples, and defense (i.e. a mix of Town Center, Castle, and Monastery), but opted for the Krepost as a weaker version of Castle for gameplay purposes.

Scout Cavalry was originally intended to appear in the Dark Age, Light Cavalry and Knights in the Feudal Age, and Cavaliers in the Castle Age

Because everyone starts with a Scout in the Dark Age (and people rode horses back then, of course), the Knight's shield and armor look more like the Feudal Age's Man-at-Arms, and the Cavalier's shield looks more like the Castle Age's Long Swordsman.

• Almost confirmed. During development, Spearmen were at one point intended to be available in the Dark Age (upgraded to Pikemen in the Feudal Age, Iron Shank Pikemen in the Castle Age, and Halberdiers in the Imperial Age). This doesn't make much sense if cavalry other than the starting Scout wasn't as well.

The Koreans were modified from the Khmer

We know the Khmer were long considered for The Conquerors (first as part of a new South Asian set and then as the new East Asian civ), favored by Petersen, and that Microsoft pushed for the Koreans to be included quite late. The Korean defensive bonuses, later downgraded or taken away, make sense for a civ that built places like Angkor. The War Wagon is not based on historical Korean warfare; Ensemble said once that it was their way of bringing back the first game's Elephant Archer, a slow but powerful horse Archer. Doesn't the more famous Khmer Scorpion Elephant (for civ crafting gamers that is) sound a lot more like that? Basically, a Khmer civ with East Asian architecture and a Scorpion Elephant UU was underway, Microsoft demanded a Korean civ in the last minute, and the developers thought the fastest and least disruptive way was to turn their Khmer civ and UU into Korean than making another from scratch before the deadline.

Potential new campaigns

While the devs said that there will be no new civilizations, they said they are open to new campaigns for several civilizations that do not have an official single player campaign. For a few possible campaigns:

• Zhu Yuanzhang (a.k.a. Hongwu Emperor): It will an expansion to the Lake Poyang scenario from the Definitive Edition (which was formally Langshan Jiang) and will be the official Chinese campaign. The campaign will focus on the rise of the Ming Dynasty and topple of the Mongol ruled Yuan dynasty, as well as focusing on several of his military and diplomatic accomplishments. The Ming dynasty is also one of the more popular medieval dynasties among the Chinese fanbase. The devs would choose this kind of campaign to avoid any depictions of Tibet (which may cause some controversy depending on how they are portrayed), since his interactions with Tibet was limited to sending envoys and Buddhist scholars to Tibet (as opposed to the Tang Dynasty and the Yuan dynasty, where the former had numerous wars with the Tibetan Empire while the later conquered Tibet).
• Vytaulas the Great: There is actually a hero unit of the same name, indicating that the developers originally planned for a Lithuanian campaign before scrapping it due to Definitive Edition focus on the aftermath of the Mongol Empire. This campaign will focus on his rise to power through various civil wars, and his eventual alliance with the kingdom of Poland, and a large scale war with the Teutons.
  • Technically jossed. Vytautas is instead a secondary character on the Polish (Jadwiga) and Bohemian (Jan Zizka) campaigns, and referenced without appearance in the Lithuanian campaign (Algirdas and Kestutis).
• Jadwiga of Poland: Similar to Vytautas, but will focus more on the Polish side of things of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance.
  • Confirmed for Dawn of the Dukes.
• Tamar of Georgia: Since the developers used Persians as a placeholder civilization for Georgia in the fifth Tamerlane scenario, it ended up turning off some Georgian players who wanted a playable Georgian civilization (which Civilization VI has). A Tamar campaign would be well-suited either to a Caucasus-themed expansion pack or an expansion focusing on great female leaders from the middle ages.
• Oda Nobunaga: This one should be pretty obvious, especially since the famous Genpei War is already covered by the Kurikara Historical Battle. And with the introduction of the Portuguese, the campaign will portray him as a Villain Protagonist with a noble goal, but utilized ruthness and pragmatic tactics to achieve them (such as allowing Christian missionaries to convert the Japanese populace in order to secure trade and weapons from the Portuguese, and him burning Buddhist temples).
• Mehmed II: The official Turkish campaign will focus on the siege of Constantinople, the conquest of the Byzantine Empire, and the conquest of the Balkans. Similar to the Edward Longshanks, Kotyan Khan, and Burgundian campaigns in relation to the William Wallace, Genghis Khan, and Joan of Arc campaigns, it would also be an opposite perspective counterpart to the Dracula campaign.
• Muhammad Ghori: A lot of people have requested the Afghans as a new civilization for the game, as they would be an ideal third Central Asian civilization and alternative to represent Persia compared to the Sassanid-inspired Persians civilization. Muhammad Ghori in particular would be extremely well-suited to a full campaign, as he led the Ghurids of Afghanistan to several victories that eventually led to a massive empire that would later influence the Delhi Sultanate. A Ghori campaign would also serve as an opposite perspective counterpart to Prithviraj, who he ultimately defeated in real life.
  • Very unlikely if not jossed after the retooling of the Indians into Hindustanis, expressly based on Muslim South Asia, and their campaign Babur includes the conquest of Afghanistan and Delhi.
• Ralambo: He would be the perfect campaign protagonist for a Malagasy campaign, as he is a national hero in Madagascar and is famous for his successful military campaigns and achievements to the kingdom's culture. His reign took place at the very end of the Age of Empires II timeframe, starting before the end of the Bayinnaung campaign and ending in the early 17th century.
• Skanderberg: If the Albanian become playable, Skanderbeg could be an excellent choice for a campaign character, acting as a Foil to Dracula and and eventual Turkish campaign. The timeframe fits as well.

Some of the civilizations originally planned for Definitive Edition will be Refitted for Sequel with Age of Empires IV

There are a lot of fan requested civilizations for Age of Empires 2 such as Tibetans, Georgians, Tamil, and Swiss that the fans had requested, but never made the cut for Definitive Edition, but didn't made the cut for some reason (although the Tibetans case is more of Banned in China issue). For example, the fifth scenario of the Tamerlane campaign had Persians as a placeholder civilization for the Georgians, indicting that Georgians were originally planned for the Definitive Edition before the developers decided to opt for Lithuanians and Bulgarians for better representation for eastern European civilizations. It's very likely the developers want to more respectful and historically accurate representation of those civilizations in Age of Empires IV, as Age of Empires IV supposed to put more emphasis on cultural and historical accuracy and representation.

The War Wagon's bolts are actually rockets powered by gunpowder

It is cooler than a giant crossbow, at least.

One of the DLC expansions for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will focus on China

With the announcement of Lords of the West, future expansions are no longer out of consideration. A Chinese-themed expansion pack would make a ton of sense, as not only would it finally be an opportunity to give the Chinese a full campaign in gratitude for the game's huge popularity in China (similar to the iconic Britons finally getting their long-overdue campaign in Lords of the West), but it would also be the safest way to introduce the Tibetans as a playable civilization, as they would be implied as simply another predecessor state to Greater China alongside other dynasties like the Song, Jin, and Tanguts (similar to the Tatars being largely part of the Mongol Empire and its constituents). Considering Crusader Kings II was not Banned in China despite including the medieval Tibetans, it is unlikely the same issue would occur with the right type of promotion. This expansion would also be the perfect opportunity to introduce the also-highly-requested Jurchens as a second new civilization, as they were another mighty non-Han empire that's part of China today, and they would likely have more of a cavalry focus in contrast to the Jack of All Trades/archer-centric regular Chinese civ. Finally, there would likely be a new "Chinese" architecture set given to the Chinese, Jurchens, and Tibetans in response to people's complaints that the original East Asian architecture set looks too Japanese, and also so that there aren't 7 civilizations with the East Asian architecture set. Doing this would also help drive the portrayal of the Tibetans in a way that's consistent with China's revisionist history of their empire. As a final precaution, the Tibetans would likely use the same unit voice clips as the Chinese civilization, rather than speak in Tibetan.

One of the DLC expansions will have a Caucasus theme

Despite appearing in the fifth mission of the Tamerlane campaign in The Last Khans, the Armenians and Georgians have yet to appear as playable factions in Age of Empires II. They are not well-covered by any of the civs currently in the game and were major empires in history (although the Armenians peaked more during Late Antiquity, they were still notable for being the first Christian state and were still culturally significant during the middle ages). The Georgian campaign would most likely focus on Queen Tamar, giving Joan of Arc and Yodit some extra company among the current female campaign protagonists. This expansion would also likely introduce a new Caucasian/Eurasian architecture set that is also given to the Byzantines, which aren't suited to the Roman Catholic-looking Mediterranean set they currently use (not to mention the introduction of the Sicilians in Lords of the West increases the number of Mediterranean civs to a whopping 5). Other possibilities for this expansion would be to feature a full campaign for the Persians, who historically controlled part of the Caucasus, and, by a larger stretch, the Kurds as a third new civilization, as they would be to the Saracens what the Tatars were to the Mongols.

One of the DLC expansions will focus on North America

Two of the most requested civilizations for a future expansion are the Mississippians and Puebloans. As great civilizations from modern-day United States, these civilizations would represent virginal territory for the game and offer plenty of possibilities for innovative game mechanics. A North American expansion would also be the most appropriate chance to introduce a campaign for the Mayans.

One of the DLC expansions will be themed around great thalassocracies

Although the Malay are already in the game with a Gajah Mada campaign, an expansion focusing on naval empires would be a great opportunity not only to sophisticate and expand the game's water mechanics, but also to introduce the Polynesians and Malagasy as new civilizations. It would also serve as an alternative way to introduce the Tamils, who were a famous maritime empire.

One of the future patches will introduce unique castles fo all civilizations.

Since the introduction of the four new DE DLC civs (Burgundians, Sicilians, Poles and Bohemians), many players have complained about them having unique castle designs compared to the rest of the other civs, who all use the same castle model. A good if time-consuming idea would be giving to each civilization a unique castle based on castles/keeps typical of the civ's area. The current castles would remain as follows: Western Europe to Britons, Central Europe to Teutons (even thought it resembles another British castle), Mediterranean to Italians, Eastern Asia to Japanese, Middleeastern to Saracens, Mesoamerican to Mayans, Eastern Europe to Lithuanians (is based on a Polish castle), African Castle to Malians, Southeastern Asia to Khmer, Central Asia to Tatars.

One of the DLC expansions will have an Andean theme

Since the Inca aren't suited for the Mesoamerican style, a good way to expand the American roster of civs would be splitting their architectural styles in two and make a new Andean Style for the Incas and two more civs: the Chimu, based on the Chimor Empire (notable for their canal city and for being skilled metal workers expert in making bronze) and the Wari (representing the Chanka fought in Pachacuti's campaign). Meanwhile, to keep the number of civs equal the Mesoamerica gets the Tlaxcala, who are already present in the Aztec's campaign, their campaign could be a foil to Montezuma's and, due to their contact and helps with the Spanish invaders, they could be the only American civ to actually get the Stable and cavalry (albeit later and with some limits).

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