Calling all Age of Empires ll fans!

The real-time strategy game Age of Empires ll: The Age of Kings was originally released over 20 years ago in 1999, to massive sales and critical acclaim. If you haven’t followed the scene since then, you might be surprised to hear that the competitive and casual scene for Age is alive and well.

And in many ways, it’s stronger than ever before.

The Age community has kept the game alive through community-organized events, fan-made broadcasting tools like Capture Age, and hours upon hours of YouTube and Twitch content.

Recently, fans gathered to watch Hidden Cup 3, a tournament format hosted by T90Official where pro Age players compete under hidden identities so that neither competitors nor viewers know who is playing who. This year, the tournament had over 50,000 viewers watching at one time, and the community prize pool was over $50,000 as well.

Though Microsoft chipped in money for the event, the Hidden Cup 3 is entirely community organized and a powerful example of what fans and content creators can do.

To see all of the action of the tournament head over to T90Official’s YouTube page or click the link below, and be sure to check back here for more weekly gaming News!