Microsoft has announced Age of Empires 2 HD Edition, a re-release of the historic RTS exclusively for Steam.

The new version is due to launch worldwide on 9th April.

But those who pre-purchase the game (at a 10 per cent discount) can gain access sooner - on 5th April.

The HD Edition includes every campaign from the game's Conquerors expansion, online play, 1080p HD support and a new set of textures.

Steamworks integration means the game now has achievements, leaderboards, matchmaking and cloud support, while Workshop features have been built in to enable the sharing of user-generated content.

It's all being developed by Hidden Path Entertainment of Counter Strike: Global Offensive fame.

The game's first trailer and system requirements lie below.

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Pro

Steam Software Platform

900x600 minimum display resolution

Direct X 9 Capable GPU

1.2GHz CPU

1GB RAM

2GB HDD