Despite all the graphics capabilities of modern Macs, being a Mac gamer is generally a thankless existence. Every once in a while, though, Mac gamers get a bone thrown to them that is substantial enough that they think, for a brief moment, everything might be OK. One such bone has been thrown to us today—Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition just came out on macOS.
The game is available on Steam right now (those who owned the Windows version on Steam get the Mac one automatically) and is planned for a Mac App Store release later.
Age of Empires II is arguably one of the greatest strategy games ever released, and unlike too many of its real-time strategy (RTS) peers, it remains quite popular to this day and is still getting updates almost 30 years after its initial release.
The new Mac release is a port of the Definitive Edition remaster, which arrived in 2019. It comes with the original game’s Age of Kings expansion, plus three of the more recent content packs: Lords of the West, Dynasties of India, and Dawn of the Dukes. (The game’s Microsoft-owned development studio, World’s Edge, has been releasing periodic expansion packs ever since the Definitive Edition release first arrived.)
There are many, many other content and DLC packs available for purchase, if the hundred-plus-hours in that package isn’t enough, as all the DLC supported on Windows is also supported in the Mac version. The Definitive Edition has assets and an engine updated for up to 4K resolution, new unit animations, a remastered soundtrack, and a plethora of quality-of-life improvements.