Fun fact: The competitive AoE2 scene remains very much alive and thriving. Several top players are able to make a living from it, thanks to streaming revenue and tournament prize money. There are even some streamers, such as T90 and MembTV, that have managed to create successful careers despite not being competitive players themselves.
I credit that random UAE dude that was bankrolling TyranT and kept the game going. Without real money the game would not reach the critical level for Microsoft to pay attention again.
And some players have come a long way. One of my highlights was, when DauT won the Red Bull Wololo 3 tournament as someone who is playing the game 20+ years. And some fans are doing great stuff too, like this video that was released shortly after (DauT is back):
