Update 185872 for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition adds the Arabian Desert map and two regional units: Varangian Guards and Mounted Crossbowmen. The official notes were published on September 22, 2026; they do not give a rollout date.
The Mounted Crossbowman becomes a regional unit for 12 existing European civilizations. The notes also rename Longboats as Longships and make them available to the Vikings, Danes, Saxons and Varangians. Danes, Varangians and Vikings receive a new architecture set.
Map, pathfinding and multiplayer changes
Alongside Arabian Desert, the update’s highlights announce improvements to pathfinding and AI. The notes do not detail how those changes work. They also promise faster file transfers in multiplayer lobbies, without giving figures for the improvement.
New Byzantine voices and a PC graphics fix
Byzantine units receive new voice lines in Greek. On PC, the update fixes an issue that could cause a player’s machine to use its integrated GPU instead of its dedicated GPU.
See official Update 185872 post on Steam for details, and find Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on JEU.VIDEO.
