SteamDB displays two “unknown app” DLCs, with no files and no recent updates:
https://steamdb.info/depot/4073510/
https://steamdb.info/depot/4376980/
Would they be the “free slots” for the next DLCs which may be launched mid- and late 2026 (the Roman Republic Chronicles and the possible African DLC)?
Not 1 by 2? 
I never expected another non-Chronicles DLC this year.
Yes, it would be a DLC in the summer and then again at the end of the year for Christmas…
Its never too late to frankenstein two unrelated DLCs again, so dont get too happy too fast
It’s probably the Chronicles Rome DLC for one and then a Scandinavian DLC for the other.
I also think that’s the most likely scenario. Although I have no idea what they might have done in terms of gameplay for the Vikings.
Why people always give so much value to steamDB? It doesn’t really mean anything and they can have private depots and depots that never get anywhere, it is just a tool for developers for test things. And no, seeing things appear here doesn’t mean “all this will be released this year” or ever.
We have strong hints for both of those so why do we even need to argue about SteamDB stuff?
The first was known a few hours after it emerged last October, on the cusp of Alexander the Great’s release.
The second was found too, at latest in March.
https://old.reddit.com/r/aoe2/comments/1rjmdip/new_dlc_appeared_in_steamdb/
One of them is indeed likely to be Chronicles Rome, which may have finished development last year.
Both of these depots are listed as DLCs. For AoE2DE, these have generally ended up as DLCs they would eventually release.
Special testing branches have not been released through the DLC label.
Yeah, I already know what that is thanks, that’s not my question, Why should we care about it when it doesn’t mean anything? It is something internal (we can only see because SteamDB partially scans semi-public Metadata) that can be removed or added or modified without justification by the devs.
Some comments are like “two empty public depots created several months before” = “2 new DLC THIS year”, which is completely made up.
Not necessarily 2 this year, the last chieftains if you look was an unknown app from September 2024 and we didn’t get it until Feb 2026 and the app didn’t unlock until after announcement.
So I think we will see one more this year and definitely another early 2027 considering one app is 6 months old and the other just 2 months old
Yes, that could be it… then the Chronicles of Rome DLC would be at the end of the year and then the Scandinavian DLC in April 2027…
BTW, I’m not affirming the two “unknown apps” are the future DLCs and both will be launched later this year. I’m just speculating this is a possibility. One of them may be the late 2026 Roman Chronicles DLC, and the other might be released early 2027 instead of late 2026.
Okay. AoE3 in AoE2 DLC or another V&V - you call it.
How do we know next dlc is scandanavian?was there a leak or something like how zetnus found animal names in the data?
Just speculation because of the unused raven flag
Why not AOE3 in AOE2 in V&V fashion? All to tell a story 
they added unique garrison flags for each architecture set, and there’s one extra unused in the game files, which was clearly the Odin Raven that should belong to the Vikings
Something like jamestown being set up?