Age of Empires 3 has been delisted and multiplayer support will end soon
You can no longer buy the original Age of Empires 3 from 2007 online, as the game has officially been delisted on October 10, 2024. Furthermore, Microsoft will end support for online multiplayer on October 30, 2024, “due to the technology no longer being supported.”
Owners of the game can still play the offline content, such as the campaign and skirmishes, and anyone who purchased the title before it was delisted should still be able to download it as usual.
Anyone who still frequents the strategy game’s multiplayer mode – and wants to continue doing so – will need to switch over to 2020’s Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition, which remains very much available and supported. Interested players can even try the game out for free on Steam before making any purchasing decisions.
Like the widely celebrated Definitive Edition for Age of Empires 2, Age of Empires 3: DE is a very competent and faithful modernization of the original game, featuring visual and approachability improvements alongside brand-new content not available for its previous incarnation.
The engine used for Age of Empires 3: DE even serves as a basis for the recently released Age of Mythology: Retold, which will get a Chinese-inspired DLC soon, so it’s definitely proven itself.
Age of Empires 3 was regarded as the black sheep of the family for a long time alongside Age of Empires Online, though opinion on the gunpowder combat-focused title has improved over the years and it found a solid gang of followers making endeavors like the creation of the Definitive Edition worthwhile.