In collaboration with studios Forgotten Empires and Skybox Labs, a brand new expansion of Microsoft's 1999 real-time strategy game Age of Empires II is due for release this month. Age of Empires II: HD Edition will add a collection of new units, technologies, and civilizations.

About 15 years after the Age of Empires II was originally released, the experience was revived with the 2013 launch of Age of Empires II: HD Edition by Hidden Path Entertainment. According to Digital Trends, its remastered graphics and Steam Workshop support gave it its newfound popularity in recent years, prompting the studio to start making expansions.

Rise of the Rajas is the third expansion for the 2013 Age of Empires II HD remake. The latest DLC adds four new civilizations: the Burmese, Khmer, Malay, and Vietnamese; and four fully-voiced campaigns. New generic units take the form of Battle Elephants and Imperial Skirmishers. Massive rainforests, treacherous beaches, and mangrove forests are some of the new environments, according to PC Gamer.

Other updates to Overwatch include: Improved AI, five New Random Maps, five New Special Maps, five New Real World Maps, 13 New Terrains, New Scenario Editor Objects, and the Spectator Mode, according to Steam.

Joe Homes, community coordinator, told Digital Trends that they have been able to pinpoint and rectify performance issues over recent months due to an open beta. However, he added, "with today's announcement of Rise of the Rajas, we're also pushing these performance upgrades live to all of our players for free. Among other things, this makes multiplayer matches much more stable, and we've added multiplayer restore back in, so if you ever do lose a match in progress to a desync, you can get it back and pick up where you left off!"

Rise of the Rajas will digitally launch on December 19.

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