Hello everyone! Today we're trying something new with an experimental program inspired by feedback from you—the Age II community! We’re calling this the Public Update Preview program, or "PUP" for short. These Update Previews will not only provide a sneak peek to owners of the game, but an opportunity for passionate players to step up, be recognized, and help us squash issues before they ever arise.
Starting today, everyone that owns Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Steam will have immediate access to the Public Update Preview. This is a publicly-available, Steam 'BETA' branch accessible via your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition properties menu. Opting into it will give you access to game content that is actively in development for the next game update.
These builds will sometimes contain new features, content, or bug fixes—it really depends on what we happen to be doing at the time—but it means that you're invited to take a step behind the curtain and preview everything that’s coming to the game in the weeks leading up to a release.
Whenever we make these builds available, you’ll see a Public Update Preview branch appear in your Steam 'BETA' list with a name similar to this month's branch:
- pup_march – Public Update Preview – March
- (Note that you may need to relaunch Steam.)
You don’t need to redeem any keys or use any passwords; the branch will show up whenever a build is available, and we’ll post in our channels to let you know it’s there.
This is an experiment for us, and you should expect that we’ll change how we’re doing this over time as we learn the best way to engage with you, collect your feedback, and make sure this process is having the best possible impact on your game's updates. We won’t be able to fix everything you may find or change everything you suggest, but our hope is that you’ll see your feedback represented over time and, together, enhance the value of the official updates we introduce to the game.
This afternoon, we’re launching with build #45513, which primarily contains a number of bug fixes. We plan to update the build throughout this process and as batches of fixes or changes come in, but for now, you can start discussing the build and reporting issues in the brand-new PUP forum:
- 🛠 Public Update Preview - March
- (Note that you must own the game to access the PUP forum.)
Once we’re ready to start prepping for the update to go Live, a few things will happen:
- We’ll pull back the branch so it no longer appears in your Steam Beta list.
- The PUP forum will be archived with all the threads about the current build.
- A new branch and forum will appear again when we have a new build and branch to share.
- A new list of changes will be posted along with areas you can focus on to make the biggest impact.
That's it; those are most of the details you need to get started right away, and we'll continue building our FAQ over time as you ask your questions about the Public Update Preview program.
Please join us in strengthening the quality of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition by sharing your voice—we’re definitely listening, and looking for every opportunity to make this the game you love to play :)
See you on the battlefield!
—The World's Edge Team