Five years and a day after Age of Empires IV launched, World’s Edge released Raiders of the North on Thursday. The paid expansion adds two civilizations, the Scots and the Vikings. It costs $19.99 on Steam and is out on Steam, the Microsoft Store, Xbox and PlayStation 5. Five years, in this genre, counts as middle age.
The Scots are an infantry civilization with a strong food economy and fortified defenses. Their food comes partly from Communal Fishponds and grazing Highland Cattle. Their army includes the Gallowglass, melee infantry, and Border Reivers, raiders made to strike deep into enemy territory. They can also set ambushes from stealth forests.
The Vikings are built the other way round. World’s Edge describes them as mobile, adaptable infantry for relentless raids. The Longhouse is the backbone of their economy, and their units include Berserkers and Völur seers. Sagas, which mark what you have achieved in a match, are their signature mechanic. If your games end when an army walks past your walls, the Scots are the answer; if you are the one doing the walking, the Vikings are yours.
Four Crucible missions, solo or with one friend
The Crucible is the roguelite mode that came with the Dynasties of the East expansion in November 2025. A roguelite is built on repeated runs, with upgrades you unlock along the way. Raiders of the North adds four missions to it that only expansion owners can play, including seaborne raiders and a civil war among Scottish clans. Each one works solo or in two-player co-op.
Around those missions come new objectives, points of interest, boons, perks and mutators, which are rule changes applied to a run. Each civilization gets its own talent track, and there is Boon Ascension on top. Conqueror Mode gets 25 new weekly mutators. The expansion also brings two biomes, Scottish Heathland and Tundra Summer, plus new music and taunts. Update 17.0.12182 went out the same day with fixes and a broad balance pass.
Age of Empires IV launched on PC on October 28, 2021, and reached Xbox in August 2023 and PlayStation 5 in November 2025. Since then, its expansion history has come in two sizes. The Sultans Ascend added two new civilizations and a campaign in November 2023. The three expansions that followed added variant civilizations, which are reworked versions of existing ones. Raiders of the North is the first since 2023 to add two new ones, which goes some way to explaining the price.
Raiders of the North is on Steam now for $19.99, and it needs the base game.
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