Microsoft has confirmed that it is working with the people who made the fanmade (but ultimately officially released) ‘The Forgotten Empires’ expansion for Age of Empires II to make yet another new one. A new expansion will be releasing for Age of Empires II later this year. Considering that the original game was released in 1999, this has to be some kind of a new record, with an expansion coming 16 years later.

Of course, the caveat is that the original Age of Empires II won’t be supporting or running the expansion after all- it is meant specifically for the excellent Age of Empires II: HD Edition, the update to the classic RTS that Microsoft released on Steam a couple of years ago, with new remastered resolutions, multiple monitors, minor gameplay improvements, and new online modes and servers. The new expansion will include new civilizations, campaigns and game modes.

In addition, Microsoft outlined plans to improve the Steam workshop for Age of Empires 2 with the addition of a mod manager in-game, among other things.

Hopefully, with all of this support for the game, an Age of Empires IV can’t be too far behind.