Their average is nearly as many as perennially popular premium games like Civilization VI or Terraria. They're on-par with the popular action RPG Path of Exile. The two games generally average higher player counts than popular free-to-play game War Thunder or industry darling Stardew Valley.

That's well into the top 150 all-time peak player counts on Steam. April 12 was the definitive edition's all-time player peak, and the combined total of the games was 59,995 players. Last month, in April, the games' combined average player count was over 50,000 players. This year's big tournament boasted the largest Age of Empires 1v1 prize pool since 2002. 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.

From a report: Since its HD re-release in 2013 the game has had a steady growth in average player count, but with the release of Age of Empires 2: Definitive edition last year and COVID-19 lockdowns inflating player counts across the industry, Age of Empires 2 is boasting totals that beat some very big-name games. Age of Empires 2, a 21-year-old game, could well be having its best year ever.

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