Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Known Issues & Solutions
Updated
About this FAQ:
The Known Issues & Solutions page is available to help provide information regarding high-priority issues, such as those impacting a fair number of players, or that are most disruptive to gameplay.
Disclaimer
Below is a list of known issues we are tracking for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Note that this is not a comprehensive list; we will continue to update it with new issues as they are reported and fixed, will only include the most visible or disruptive issues that prevent you from enjoying the game. Issues that could be leveraged for an unfair gameplay advantage (AKA exploits) will never be included in this list.
Table of Contents
Below is a quick overview of the different sections of Known Issues for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. If you are looking for something specific please use the quick links here to navigate to the necessary section.
Submit a ticket our Customer Support team with a description of the issue, what troubleshooting steps you may have already performed, and if relevant, any files, screenshots or video links that may help with the investigation.
Thank you for taking the time to help keep our game clean and bug-free! We will try to update this list each month, as well as provide solutions to any new issues over on the official forum or through Customer Support.
This page was last updated on June 25, 2026.
ISSUE STATUS KEY
Issues have been marked with a status that best represents their current state:
Tracking
A tracked bug means that it has been reproduced by our test team. The team now has to determine whether and how they solve the issue: whether it requires a fix, a change to the design or code of the game, or if there are other solutions that need to be considered.
Examples Needed
This issue has been reported, but we need further information to continue our investigation; please read the issue description for details.
Fixed
Once the fix is available in the game, we'll check things off of the list. Eventually, these items will be hidden to make way for other issues as they are identified, tracked, and prioritized.
TRACKED (KNOWN) ISSUES
These are issues which have been reported and reproduced by our Quality Assurance (or Test) team. Issues are listed in the areas of the game they impact, below, and in no particular order.
Bugs
Tracking
Update stalls after 169123 patch preventing game launch
Following the 169123 update, some players may experience an issue where the game prompts them to update either the main title or one of their owned DLCs, but the update process stalls or becomes stuck partway through. As a result, players are unable to launch the game until the update completes.
Platforms Affected:
Microsoft Store
Tracking
Art of War Cinematics do not play on certain monitor types
We are aware of an issue where the Art of War cinematics do not play. When this issue occurs, the audio from the cinematic can still be heard.
To workaround this issue, please turn off the 'Optimization for Windows Games' setting. This is located under Settings > System > Display > Graphics >Default Graphics settings
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store
Tracking
'Failed to download match content' error
When attempting to spectate a game either by the aoe2.recs or by using the game ID link, spectators may recieve the error message 'Failed to download match content'.
To try and workaround this issue please restart the title and try again.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store
Tracking
Unable to access Deluxe Edition content on Game pass
Some player on Game pass may encounter an issue where they are unable to access the Deluxe Edition Add-On Civilizations after installing the DLC. There is no workaround at this time.
Platforms Affected:
Microsoft Store | XBOX
Crashes
Tracking
Crashes a few minutes after launch the game
We are investigating reports of players experiencing crashes a few minutes after launching the game across multiple Age of Empires titles. We’re actively working on it and will share updates as soon as we have more information.
There are steps that have worked for some players to resolve the issue including disabling run as an administrator in the game properties and launching the game directly from Steam.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store
Tracking
Crash occurring for players whose system language is set to anything that dose not use English characters.
Players whose systems and platforms are configured to use non-English characters have reported experiencing crashes upon launching the title following the 143421 update.
As a temporary workaround for this issue please navigate to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Administrative Language Settings and then select Change System Local located under Language for non-Unicode programs. In the following window enable the option called Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support.
After this is done, try relaunching the game again. Should the issue continue please reach out to Customer Support and confirm that the workaround did not resolve the issue.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store
Connection Issues
Tracking
Crossplay invites not working
We are aware that some players are experiencing difficulties when attempting to send in-game invites to users on different platforms, resulting in the invited user being unable to join the match.
As a temporary workaround, console users are advised to restart the game. If you or the other player are on PC, please try sharing an external invite link using the Match ID or Lobby code.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store | XBOX | PS5
Tracking
Error Loading into Queued Multiplayer Match
We are aware of an issue where players may receive several error messages or difficulties while queuing for a multiplayer match. This then results in players receiving a notification that they've been penalized for disconnecting—despite not leaving the match intentionally. We're actively investigating this issue currently, and we appreciate your patience while we work toward a solution.
Platforms Affected:
Steam
Tracking
Loss of functionality when a spectated player resigns from match.
Players are unable to spectate other players remaining in the match. There is no workaround at this time.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store | XBOX
Performance Issues
Fixed Issues
These are issues which we presume to be fixed as of a recent update. If you continue to encounter the issue, please visit the official Age of Empires forum to report your experience:
The Last Chieftains achievements automatically unlock after update 169123
Fixed in Minor Update 169409. With this fix it should be noted that this may cause some previous content achievements to trigger prematurely if any The Last Chieftains' achievements were previously unlocked. Additionally any achievements prematurely unlocked due to the previous issue will unfortunately remain unlocked.
Platforms Affected:
Steam | Microsoft Store | XBOX | PS5
Fixed
Voice chat defaults to "On" unexpectedly for some players.