Developer World's Edge has seemingly uncanceled an Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition DLC that it scrapped last year, but all is forgiven since the upcoming Baltic Powers expansion is bringing two new civilizations, over 25 new maps, and so much more on September 10.
Early last year, World's Edge said it was canceling an unnamed expansion that it revealed the year prior. The developer felt the project's announcement was "premature," and the team hadn't really built anything proper before sharing its plans with the player base.
At the time, we didn't know much about the then-scrapped expansion outside of a tiny hint production director Earnest Yuen gave in 2024 by showing off the flags of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Denmark. (Thanks, PC Gamer!)
Who would've guessed? World's Edge have now revealed The Baltic Powers, an expansion that adds both the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the game as playable civilizations. While the developer hasn't outright confirmed that The Baltic Powers is, in fact, the same expansion it binned last year, all the signs point in one direction...
"The Baltic Powers brings two new civilizations, new Challenge Scenarios, new game modes, more than 25 maps, and over 50 hero customizations," the dev's announcement post reads. "More importantly, it is built around what Age 3 fans value most: new strategic problems to solve, new matchups to learn, new ways to master the map, and new reasons to return for a game they love."
The best part? You can try out the Danes and the Poles right now since The Baltic Powers' open beta is available over on Steam.
The only other thing to note is that Age of Empire 3: Definitive Edition's free trial is being retired on Steam come August 13. "We're grateful to everyone who discovered Age III through the free trial, invited friends into the community, tried rotating civilizations, and joined the battlefield," the studio notes. Should free trial players want to continue strategizing in-game, then you'll need to buy the full release by next month.
In the meantime, here are the best strategy games you can play right now.
