Age of Empires 2 fans are no strangers to the game receiving new factions. The Definitive Edition's curators, Forgotten Empires, have regularly updated the game with new playable civs for years. But it turns out the game's history of adding unexpected dynasties stretches much farther back in time than 2017, at least according to one of the sequel's original designers.
That designer is Sandy Petersen, who joined Ensemble Studios after leaving id Software where he worked on both Doom and Quake. As Petersen explained in a lengthy thread on X (via Windows Central), he was assigned to design the sequel's first expansion pack, The Conquerors. As was the case for the original game's expansion, Rise of Rome, Petersen opted to include four playable civs, the Spanish, the Aztecs, the Huns, and the Mayans.
