Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition launches Free Starter Edition on Steam with rotating civilizations and limited access to maps and campaigns

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition has launched a free starter edition on Steam. This version provides access to a considerable portion of the full game's features, allowing players to explore a rotation of civilizations that changes every two weeks. The current roster includes the French, Haudenosaunee, and Russians.

The starter edition allows both single player and multiplayer games. While it limits hosting games to one of the eight available maps, it allows players to participate in games hosted by others on any map. However, joining ranked games is not possible in the free version. Regarding campaigns and historical battles, this edition only provides access to one of the eight campaigns and one of the six historical battles.

Recently, the game was updated to include an online status for friends, new balance updates, and modifications for Royal Guard and Church technologies. This update also included enhancements to Civilizations & Revolutions.