Age Royale - Battle Royale Preview

Battle Royale is coming to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in the upcoming November Anniversary Update, and we’ve planned a massive launch tournament to celebrate! Battle Royale pits up to 8 players against each other in a free-for-all contest fought to the last combatant standing.

The Contest Begins​

Sixteen players & casters will enter the battlefield with only a few units under their control, but as they explore the map they will find and capture supply and military buildings. The supply buildings begin a resource trickle, the more under their control the faster they will gain resources. Military buildings allow the training of units and to rally your forces onto the battlefield. The more you control, the faster you can bolster and replenish your armies.
However, be vigilant – these buildings may not be yours forever. Any other player can take those away by eliminating your defenses and defending units. Your opponents aren’t the only danger in Battle Royale. The map will slowly constrict, destroying anything caught in its way.

You’ll see a mix of casting and gameplay as players alternate between casting and playing their heats, with the champions continuing to the final showdown and a shot at the title of Battle Royale Champion.

The Contenders​

• DauT
• Debbie (German / Deutsche)
• dogao (Portuguese / Português)
• Hera
• Lyx (Chinese)
• Mario Ovalle (Spanish / Español)
• MembTV
• Mr_Yo (Chinese)
• Nacho AoE (Spanish / Español)
• Nicov
• Nili_AoE
• Odette
• OGN_Empires (French / Français)
• T90Official
• TaToH (Spanish / Español)
• TheViper

Expert players that we know and cheer for will battle it out alongside community favorites to see who is the last player standing and earn a share of the $10,000 prize pool!

1st = $2,700
2nd = $2,000
3rd = $1,500
4th = $1,250
5th = $1,000
6th = $750
7th = $500
8th = $300

Spoiler: Format & Settings

Participants will be split into 2 groups of eight players, and after playing four games the top four players with the most points scored will advance to the Final!

There they will play a further two rounds to decide the overall placement & crown a winner!


Players will earn points based on their placement in each round: 1 point for 8th, 2 pts for 7th, up to 8 points for 1st place. See the score sheet here.

In the case of a tie between 2 or more players, they will be ranked on the number of high placings they have. The player with the most 1st placements would be ranked ahead. If it is still a tie, the player with the most 2nd placements, continuing down until most 4th placements. If it is still a tie the players will play a further FFA round among themselves to determine placements.
Example: Two players have a score of 22, split as P1 = 8+6+7+1 & P2 = 7+8+5+2. Both players have the same number of 1sts (8 pts) & 2nds (7 pts), but P1 has a 3rd place (6 pts) while P2 does not. Therefore P1 will be ranked ahead of P2.

Watch Live!​

You can watch the entirety of the Age Royale this Saturday at 15:00 UTC / 8 am PT / 11 am ET. Watch any of the competitor's streams and cheer them on their way to be crowned as the Battle Royale Champion!

 

[Breakfast]

Anyway, I disagree with TriRem.
Are people supposed to agree with the invitations that happen to be women just because they're women? That seems quite ridiculous. As far as I can see he was the first one to bring up the female topic. If Debbie was a man it wouldn't change anything.

When out of 16 invited players the only two that people complain about are the two who happen to be women, I don't think you can say that 'the female topic' hadn't been brought up until TriRem said it just because no one had said it explicitly.

Sure, you don't have to applaud their inclusion simply because they're women, but when you consider that Microsoft are clearly trying to appeal to as many demographics as possible, as demonstrated by the variety of languages there, it makes sense to have gender diversity as well, especially since pretty much every AoE streamer's viewerbase (apart from T90's) also follows multiple other streamers. For my money, this is a good thing: a game as great as AoEII should be accessible for everyone!

Both Odette and Debbie have decently sized channels (The_Sniper actually averages only about ~25~ more viewers than Debbie, yet no-one is complaining about his inclusion for some reason) and since we don't know all the details of how players were selected I can't see that it's reasonable to say they don't belong there. I'd like to know how players were picked, since stuff like why there's no Russian caster/player is an interesting decision, but saying X shouldn't be there because they don't meet my personal criteria doesn't make any sense in my opinion.

 

[Krisel]

Problem with this tournament is: For example GL including Debbie (or also including others) can easily play with each other even though its an ffa. They should absolutely play with other names like in Hidden Cup or something. Otherwise more drama is already confirmed.

I also understand the debbie drama since she is playing at 1k, barely streams and has only few viewers.

Maybe they also should have opened the aoe2-bubble and think about other streamers outside it. For example there are other "big" german streamers as HandOfBlood, Bonjwa, Donnie or Marco (ex Rocket Beans) which are also playing on this level but would include "non-only-aoe" communities and bring attention to the game (and that is what this event is about, right?).

 

[sahwa]

People need to remember that anything Microsoft do in the community has at least one eye turned towards marketing the game and getting more people to pay for it. I presume they don't give a **** about including as many people as possible or making it a 'fair' invitational where less well known people can have a shot at winning. They are interested in making money for themselves, and have obviously sat down and decided that these players represent the best chance of advertising the game to a broad audience - and yes, that includes women, as well.

So complaining about this being 'unfair' is kind of missing the point. I'm not saying we can't criticise Microsoft, and of course we can critique how they treat the community in general, but we shouldn't be surprised when the way they choose to spend their money conflicts with how random aoezone members think they should.

 

[Krisel]

People need to remember that anything Microsoft do in the community has at least one eye turned towards marketing the game and getting more people to pay for it. I presume they don't give a **** about including as many people as possible or making it a 'fair' invitational where less well known people can have a shot at winning. They are interested in making money for themselves, and have obviously sat down and decided that these players represent the best chance of advertising the game to a broad audience - and yes, that includes women, as well.

So complaining about this being 'unfair' is kind of missing the point. I'm not saying we can't criticise Microsoft, and of course we can critique how they treat the community in general, but we shouldn't be surprised when the way they choose to spend their money conflicts with how random aoezone members think they should.

I dont get it why there should be more sales when you organize an aoe event with aoe-only streamers and players. If you want to increase sales with a tournament like this you need to organize for an example a Twitch Rivals event with streamers outside the aoe-bubble. Or come up with a professional casting which is promoted on the twitch-landingpage. Otherwiser there will be 99.5% viewers which already have the game

 

[Halleju]

If it would only be about a person that regularly ****s TheViper, MS would just leave it at inviting MrYo.

 

[MansGh]

Problem with this tournament is: For example GL including Debbie (or also including others) can easily play with each other even though its an ffa. They should absolutely play with other names like in Hidden Cup or something. Otherwise more drama is already confirmed.

I also understand the debbie drama since she is playing at 1k, barely streams and has only few viewers.

Maybe they also should have opened the aoe2-bubble and think about other streamers outside it. For example there are other "big" german streamers as HandOfBlood, Bonjwa, Donnie or Marco (ex Rocket Beans) which are also playing on this level but would include "non-only-aoe" communities and bring attention to the game (and that is what this event is about, right?).

She gets more views on her stream than The_Sniper, and her VODS average thousands of views. So yes I dont find any other reason for the amount of toxic hurt except that she is a woman.

 

[Marteens]

When out of 16 invited players the only two that people complain about are the two who happen to be women, I don't think you can say that 'the female topic' hadn't been brought up until TriRem said it just because no one had said it explicitly.

Sure, you don't have to applaud their inclusion simply because they're women, but when you consider that Microsoft are clearly trying to appeal to as many demographics as possible, as demonstrated by the variety of languages there, it makes sense to have gender diversity as well, especially since pretty much every AoE streamer's viewerbase (apart from T90's) also follows multiple other streamers. For my money, this is a good thing: a game as great as AoEII should be accessible for everyone!

Both Odette and Debbie have decently sized channels (The_Sniper actually averages only about ~25~ more viewers than Debbie, yet no-one is complaining about his inclusion for some reason) and since we don't know all the details of how players were selected I can't see that it's reasonable to say they don't belong there. I'd like to know how players were picked, since stuff like why there's no Russian caster/player is an interesting decision, but saying X shouldn't be there because they don't meet my personal criteria doesn't make any sense in my opinion.

You are confusing the bacon with the speed.

If MS wanted to appeal to larger audiences they would have invited people as MayorceteGaming who holds the biggest AoE community outside the competitive circles as someone said earlier.

 

[doacid]

You are confusing the bacon with the speed.

/=

 

[RobChang]

Problem with this tournament is: For example GL including Debbie (or also including others) can easily play with each other even though its an ffa. They should absolutely play with other names like in Hidden Cup or something. Otherwise more drama is already confirmed.

I also understand the debbie drama since she is playing at 1k, barely streams and has only few viewers.

Maybe they also should have opened the aoe2-bubble and think about other streamers outside it. For example there are other "big" german streamers as HandOfBlood, Bonjwa, Donnie or Marco (ex Rocket Beans) which are also playing on this level but would include "non-only-aoe" communities and bring attention to the game (and that is what this event is about, right?).

When the event is about inviting HandofBlood, then there would be no member of the community streaming the game. Then the event isnt about community members with reach outside of the aoe bubble playing the mode but just random variety streamers with no big connection to the game playing it without even affecting the aoe community at all. Because who would watch that event from us then ? Nobody. Really, nobody.

You are confusing the bacon with the speed.

If MS wanted to appeal to larger audiences they would have invited people as MayorceteGaming who holds the biggest AoE community outside the competitive circles as someone said earlier.

You guys dont understand its about TWO criteria. Being member of the community, but simultaneously being able to leave the bubble and make the gamemode accessible to newer viewers. MS wouldnt do the event when its about you in chat flaming how bad everything is.

Its not about only having the biggest streamers inside the community, or the biggest streamers outside the community, but streamers that can have both. People that keep the gate open for people to entry the community from the outside and thats better for the game than just people inside the bubble just doing their stuff, or people outside the bubble doing their stuff and then never anything anymore.

And if Debbie is part of GL, where is her contract ? And where is here handle and everything ? I am pretty sure she would make every player kill the viper first just for fun.

 

[Krisel]

She gets more views on her stream than The_Sniper, and her VODS average thousands of views. So yes I dont find any other reason for the amount of toxic hurt except that she is a woman.

Okay, then same problem with him? I dont care about gender but i care about if they are a good choice or not for the idea about this event. And I assume that streamers which are barely twitch partners arent the best possible publicity. And yes, i know its not my decision :D.

Btw: Maybe some guys remember the discussion about ornlu @ nac?

 

[_PuMpKiN__]

I am sure the number of female AOE players will grow considerably after this showcase.

 

[technikalex]

love to see that MS sponsors this tourney with such a big prizepool but heavily dislike the invitation only strategy. Maybe a registration for streamers and after that a poll voted by the community would have made sense.
Also maybe split the prizepool in 2. One for the first 8 players like it is now, and one for the streamers which are investing the time into that event.

 

[Zbyszek]

If Microsoft has 10k to spend on a meme then there must be great things to come for the game and competetive tournaments.

 

[RobChang]

love to see that MS sponsors this tourney with such a big prizepool but heavily dislike the invitation only strategy. Maybe a registration for streamers and after that a poll voted by the community would have made sense.
Also maybe split the prizepool in 2. One for the first 8 players like it is now, and one for the streamers which are investing the time into that event.

Well, and how long before the thingie to happen would they need to make the poll ? 3 weeks ? so the whole hype about the event has died already ? And why make a poll ? To raise hatred and war lines within the community ? Its a little fun marketing event with 10k dollars as a little spice. The prize money isnt there to award anyone, its just there to spice things up and for pro players to tryhard in the finals. It is like with the Zerator FFA. The focus is on having fun together and the 5k dollars are just there for some candy. Nobody there made drama about why Sitaux wasnt invited. Because it is what it is and the invitator decided. I saw noone ranting on other participants of Zerator just because his Frenchie wasnt there. A manner that is only reserved for this forum. Yes, 10k is much compared to competitive tournaments. But this isnt one. Its a fun thing from the marketing budget by MS which is orders of magnitude bigger than that. And really, to not look like losers they need at least these 10k for a 16 player FFA tournament when a streamer just had a 5k event with 8 players.

And no, I dont think you need to pay streamers to stream this. For a lot of smaller streamers, the opportunity of being trusted by MS and representing the community while having fun with friends is enough reward already. Sadly, parts of this community dont agree and try to undermine that trust giving with whatever aim. But one thing is sure, this needlessly toxic behaviour hurts individual people that just try to give their best and the whole community itself. You seem to care more about the money than anything else, while the streamers attacked couldnt care less and they already did a lot of charity streams before and I wouldnt be surprised if they wouldnt keep the money (if they ever surprising win some) would rather use for a good cause than just putting into their pockets and laughing on everybody else that was not invited.

 

[vivaronaldo]

love to see that MS sponsors this tourney with such a big prizepool but heavily dislike the invitation only strategy. Maybe a registration for streamers and after that a poll voted by the community would have made sense.
Also maybe split the prizepool in 2. One for the first 8 players like it is now, and one for the streamers which are investing the time into that event.

Ok, so I'll start this by saying you're perfectly entitled to express your dislike of the invitation only strategy.

However, why would (or should) a company be required to hold a demorcratic process on how they spend their marketing budget with their existing customer base? If a vote is going to happen anywhere on how to spend it, it would take place within the management team of the Marketing department or within the boardroom.

If this marketing investment (which will be loose change for a company the size of MS) is meant to attract a new people to the game then taking the view of the existing customer base might not necessarily be the best way to go as what appeals to us, might not attract someone outside the community.

At the end of the day, Microsoft's responsibility is to their shareholders and if their marketing team think an invitational showcase tournament is the most effective way to get results from a small investment then it's absolutely their right to do so.

Finally (and unrealted to the post made by technikalex) I'd just like to say that the toxicity thrown towards the selection of female streamers for this event is just plain pathetic. The only thing that comes close to how pathetic it is, is the weak attempts at covering it up once it's been called out.

 

[polskafan]

I like it. Looking forward to the event.

 

[RobChang]

I like it. Looking forward to the event.

I also think it can be really fun. The mode can be really interesting to be played by a lot of players without knowing a lot about AoE itself and just having fun with friends together on a party or after work. In the end its gaming, and people having fun with the game is the main thing about it.

 

[IYIyTh]

The mode seems to be a modified version of the custom scenario "Risk". It's a fun custom scenario -- didn't have a ton of replayability in zone and HD days, will be interesting how it's changed.

 

[Rust Cohle]

Im not fan of battle royale and probably wont play this mode anyway. However i think this event is good, if only there wasnt such big prize pool(makes it more serious than showcase should be). Including women and various skill levels is good this way event can appeal to a wider audience and in the end this helps everyone if game beggins to die we will have less turnaments lower prize pools, longer ques...
Some people just have to keep crying and cant take a win.

 

[IYIyTh]

No need to white knight, anymore than there is no need to complain about nepotism.

They are both facts of life.

Neither are going to change on aoezone or in your real lives.

Invitation only invites this exact scrutiny, re: participants. There is no need to paint the reaction to lower rated players or family/friends being invited over a swath of other/your top rated players/streamers as sexist, as that is intellectually dishonest. There is no need to hate over the selection of lesser rated players and perhaps even lesser popular players over others, as it's an invite-only tournament -- and you/your alternatives weren't invited for one reason or another. Your unhappiness with this could not matter less to the tournament organizer. Do not pass go, do not collect $10K.

I think it's honestly more curious that Zak from ZeroEmpires continues to receive high-level tournament interview invites/opportunities or bits in patch updates given the relative non-involvement with the community over the last few years. I'm sure tons of amateur/pro streamers would love the opportunity for such bits, but like it or not there is a clique at the top and you either have to be an obscenely good player/caster or a buddy to get in. That's just how life works. It's moderately amusing that this is either some folks first brush with this or frustration regarding their utter and complete powerlessness to do anything about it.

Hopefully the controversy has Microsoft rethink event participant by invitation only (as it is certainly questionable optics at the very least)-- but remember the golden rule -- they who have the gold, make the rules.

Life isn't fair, get used to it.

 

[doacid]

Its a little fun marketing event with 10k dollars as a little spice. The prize money isnt there to award anyone

I disagree. When it comes to aoe2 10k isn't just a spice, it is a big prize no matter what.
Furthermore 10k for one day tournament is more than 50K for a one or two months tournament. Not just a little more, it is WAY more. From that perspective this could be like the biggest tournament prize we've ever had since the early 2000s.
Not that it changes anything about Microsoft being entitled to do whatever they want with the money and inviting whoever they want. But still, I just wanted to point out that 10k isn't just a little thing on the side like you're making it out to be. It is massive.

Finally (and unrealted to the post made by technikalex) I'd just like to say that the toxicity thrown towards the slection of female streamers for this event is just plain pathetic. The only thing that comes close to how pathetic it is, is the weak attempts at covering it up once it's been called out.

Bringing up "women vs men" when there's no reason to has the potential to polarize the community and create division and toxicity where there was none. It also derails the conversation. Human beings have so many peculiarities and attributes that there's no need to signal how someone is a female. I'm sure any woman has so many characteristics in her persona that there's no need to point at the obvious to explain how fit she is for a specific job.
Thankfully no one has started any more identity discussions yet, cause we could very well have people calling racism for not including such or such person or for having only whites or whatever other bullshit.

That's what's so fascinating about life, in this topic some see toxicity in a witch hunt against women while I can see toxic concerns in a whole different place.

 

[Tarsiz]

Nobody there made drama about why Sitaux wasnt invited. Because it is what it is and the invitator decided. I saw noone ranting on other participants of Zerator just because his Frenchie wasnt there.

Well I was certainly surprised than Sitaux wasn't present at the event.
And it's not comparable anyway, the event was organized outside the Age community - even the French one. There would be absolutely no reason for participants to complain here.
For you as a double outsider (not even in the French community) even if there had been the biggest drama ever your chances of knowing about it would be exactly zero.

 

[JUDAS]

Very funny the guy who says that 10k is a little spice when MS hasnt even sponsor by themselves a 30k tournament. MS can do whatever they want with the money but the event and invitation process must be crystal clear for everybody.

 

[Akkal]

Very funny the guy who says that 10k is a little spice when MS hasnt even sponsor by themselves a 30k tournament. MS can do whatever they want with the money but the event and invitation process must be crystal clear for everybody.

What do you mean Microsoft haven't sponsored a tournament with 30k themselves? Microsoft put money into NAC, KOTD and Hidden cup. F.ex 35k for Hidden Cup: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/Hidden_Cup/3

 

[_IamChris]

Having Microsoft put on a fun event is great news! Keep it up