Age of Empires IV: Yue Fei's Legacy Is Out Now — Here's What You Get

If you've been waiting for the next big chunk of Age of Empires IV content, today is your day. Yue Fei's Legacy just launched on May 7, and it's one of the meatier DLC packages the game has received since launch.

The expansion is priced at $14.99 (there was a 15% pre-purchase discount for those who got in early), and it packs in a new campaign, a brand-new civilization, four new maps, and two new biomes. That's a solid amount of content for the price.

The Campaign: A Song Dynasty Fight for Survival

The centerpiece is an 8-scenario campaign that follows the legendary Song Dynasty general Yue Fei. The story puts you in the middle of the Song-Jin Wars — a brutal conflict where the Song Dynasty is fighting to survive against the invading Jin Dynasty forces.

It's a historically grounded arc, which is very much in line with what Age of Empires IV has done with its previous campaigns. Expect cinematic storytelling, scripted moments, and a mix of base-building and tactical battles that escalate as the story progresses.

The New Civilization: Jin Dynasty

The real headline here for multiplayer fans is the addition of the Jin Dynasty as a fully playable civilization in custom games, skirmish, and ranked matches.

Jin plays differently from most civs in the roster. They lean hard into cavalry and siege, and they come with some genuinely interesting mechanics:

• Mounted Villagers — your economy moves with you, which is great for aggressive expansion strategies
• Emissaries — diplomatic units that open up unique interaction options
• Meng'an Mouke Keeps — automated defensive structures that help protect your borders without constant babysitting

On the military side, Jin unique units include the Iron Pagoda (heavy cavalry), Mounted Grenadiers, Eruptors, and Bed Crossbows. That's a ranged-heavy, highly mobile kit that looks like it'll reward aggressive players who like to pressure opponents early and often.

Jin also gets bespoke civilization music and its own mastery system, which means there's a real progression path to unlock as you learn the civ.

New Maps and Biomes

The DLC adds four new maps alongside two new biomes: windswept grasslands and freezing desert plateaus. These aren't just reskins either — lush river valleys and frozen terrain create genuinely different tactical environments compared to what's already in the game.

For competitive players, new maps mean new metas to figure out, which keeps things fresh whether you're grinding ranked or just playing casually with friends.

Should You Buy It?

If you're an active Age of Empires IV player, this one's an easy call. A new civ that plays uniquely, a full campaign with historical weight, and new maps to explore in multiplayer — that's exactly what the game needed heading into summer.

If you're more of a casual single-player fan, the 8-mission Yue Fei campaign alone is worth the entry price. Historical RTS campaigns don't come around this well-crafted very often.

Yue Fei's Legacy is available now on Steam and Xbox Game Pass (the DLC requires a separate purchase for Game Pass subscribers). Head over to the Age of Empires site or Steam to grab it.