The Age of Empires world’s melting down after a ‘legal’ exploit decides $150K grand final

Fans and players alike in the Age of Empires II esports world are up in arms after Hamzah "Hera" El-Baher's lopsided 5–1 victory over Ørjan "TheViper" Larsen in the $150,000 Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado tournament that played out in the monumental Castle of Almodóvar in Córdoba, Spain over the weekend - and it's not just because they're playing favorites.

The concerns instead focus around Hera's use of a unit glitch in the Definitive Edition of the 1999 game that makes grouped units nigh on "invincible."

One instance occurred in game three, with Hera employing the trick 33 minutes into the map. The Canadian star may have already won the battle considering he had 45 Paladins against TheViper's 30 halberdiers, but the exploit sealed the deal.

He then wheeled the trick out in another key engagement on map four, Mountain Dunes, when the two locked horns with just over two dozen Camel units each. Hera also had 10 Camel Archers backing up that map-four play.

In both cases, the trick is easily identifiable through the heavy vibrating the selected units make once they're set to Stand Ground. In the map three usage, the Paladins move so quickly north to south they begin to glitch together.

The backlash was instantaneous, with many fans suggesting it had discredited the entire Red Bull event and "killed the aura" of the Almodóvar setting. "Makes it unwatchable," one claimed, "[and] tears down the excitement to see this abuse used on the biggest stage."

The biggest sticking points for many Age of Empires players who had tuned into the best-of-nine decider - which boasted 1.02 million hours watched - was the fact that it seemed to be unsportsmanlike. There were also suggestions Hera could have simply overcome TheViper without the boost too, spoiling what could have been an even more famous victory in Spain.

"Every other pro in this tournament had the chance to use this exploit but all of them had enough backbone to not do that," another disgruntled fan wrote in the final's aftermath. "Shameful and bad for the game as a whole."

Tournament admins later confirmed on Discord they do not consider it glitch abuse.

Perhaps the most important voice in the whole harangue though, finals loser TheViper, has kept a cooler head and even declared he has "no issues at all" with Hera's strategy; he didn't even consider it pivotal.

"It's incredibly strong and can feel unfair," the defeated Norwegian superstar conceded, "but it will be up to tournament hosts or the developers to decide if they want it in the game. It's not something new... this micro has been possible and showcased in the custom scenario scene for many years."

The 32-year-old, who's dropped to a 1-5 record against Hera in 2024, added it didn't change anything in their latest meeting. "I have no issues at all with him using it. It was not decisive for the outcome."

Whether that will calm the rest of the Age of Empires world remains to be seen, though it does give a indication where things go next - the devs at Forgotten Empires will have final say on whether this exploit remains possible.

Should they swing the banhammer, it may be formally patched out in a future update. Neither development team have commented on today's tumult yet.

The devs may be unlikely to act though, considering many have publicly flagged this bug as far back as August 2023. The last big AOE 2 update, shipped in April, added more Auto Scouting and didn't change this stacking.

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