It’s now by far Steam’s most popular RTS, with both the Definitive Edition and the 2013 HD Edition having higher player counts than closest competitor Company of Heroes 2. This year's big tournament boasted the
largest Age of Empires 1v1 prize pool since 2002.
Last month, in April, the games’ combined average player count was over 50,000 players. April 12 was the definitive edition’s all-time player peak, and the combined total of the games was 59,995 players. That’s well into the top 150 all-time peak player counts on Steam… for a 21-year-old game.
The two games generally average higher player counts than popular free-to-play game War Thunder or industry darling Stardew Valley. They’re on-par with the popular action RPG Path of Exile. Their average is nearly as many as perennially popular premium games like Civilization VI or Terraria. Both versions of Age of Empires 2 sit in the
top 100 games on Steam, with the Definitive Edition sitting at #25.