Age of Wonders 4 gets its second of four planned expansions, along with free Gargoyle update

Age of Wonders 4: Thrones of Blood, the second of the four DLCs in Expansion Pass 3 for Age of Wonders 4, launched on Nov. 11, 2025.

Along with the launch of new expansion, the game’s developers also rolled out the free Gargoyle Update.

Thrones of Blood DLC adds a new Ruler type to the game, the Elder Vampire, with a unique skill tree of dark abilities. Players can also transform recruited heroes into vampire servants who share their earned experience with the main character. In the expansion, players will be able to construct a Vampire’s Castle, which replaces the Wizard’s Tower, featuring exclusive city structures and the ability to harness thralls as a vital resource to fuel Ritual Spells.

Besides that, the expansion brings three new Tomes centered around magic that drains enemies, bolsters allies, and uses foes’ pain to grow more powerful. It also includes new narrative content, featuring haunting quest chains that explore the fate of lost souls, and a new Story Realm that delves into the birth of all vampire-kind.

Age of Wonders 4: Thrones of Blood also adds new map features to the game, including the dark Sunless Lands, gothic Ancient Wonders and Landmarks, and the magic-infused Blood Glass material. It introduces new wildlife units such as hordes of undead, gruesome devouring maggots, and swarms of bats. Additionally, the expansion brings new music, a new interface skin and new Realm options.

As for the Gargoyle Update, it expands Forge with a variety of new Infusions and updates the Dark Culture to interact more closely with existing Hero Systems. It also brings multiple quality-of-life fixes and a reworked onboarding experience by extending the tutorial to cover every step of Realm and Faction creation. Additionally, advices have been turned into full tutorials, and all outdated tutorials have been updated and outfitted with new voice-overs.

The third DLC, titled Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin, is slated for release between January and March 2026, with the fourth and last DLC of Expansion Pass 3, titled Age of Wonders 4: Secrets of the Archmages, planned for launch between April and June 2026.

The third will bring to the game a new Nomad Culture, a new transformation Form, new Tomes, along with new map regions and world map content, as well as new wildlife, units, and more, while the fourth will add new Story Realms, new narrative events, new Tomes, new wildlife, new units, and some yet-to-be-announced features to the game.

Released on May 2, 2023, Age of Wonders 4 is playable on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X|S. Developed by Triumph Studios and published by Paradox Interactive, the 4X turn-based strategy game became the sixth installment in the Age of Wonders series, following 2019’s Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

As of the time of writing, Age of Wonders 4 has a “Very Positive” rating on Steam with 14,685 reviews and an all-time peak of 42,877 players, according to SteamDB.