We are back from gamescom 2019, but there’s no rest for the wicked, as the next DLC drop is just around the corner. Today, we give you an overview of what happened during the world biggest game convention and some info about what is yet to come in the upcoming weeks.

As many of you already know, we revealed our new Season Pass trailer during the opening ceremony of gamescom 2019, giving you not only a glimpse at upcoming DLCs like Botanica or the icy The Passage DLC, but also revealing the new day & night cycle that you will all be receiving as a free Game update alongside Botanica on September 10!

 

• Our second Season Pass DLC, Botanica, drops September 10, alongside the free Game Update 5. You can look forward to a detailed DevBlog about your personal botanical garden next week!
• Game Update 5 will bring you the free day & night cycle and the much improved return of certain plaza tiles you may have seen during our beta phases. As always, we will share the full release notes next week.
• Our third Season Pass DLC, The Passage, will be appropriately released this winter. We don’t want to share anything beyond what was seen in the trailer… but have you see those airships?

 

Ubisoft Lounge

During our Ubisoft Lounge presentations at gamescom, we showcased the new day & night cycle in detail, provided some information about the development of the content and invited you to extensive AMA sessions. As always, we got a lot of feedback, ideas and impressions to take back to work with us, and it was once again a delight to be able to speak and to discuss face to face with some of our Annoholics.

During gamescom, we were told that it would be interesting to learn more about the development of the Day & Night cycle, including challenges and interesting insights from an art and overall development perspective. How does that sound for the rest of the Union- are you hungry for more behind the scenes content to learn more about the development of the game?

 

 

Botanica Devblog, Live-Stream and Twitch Drops

Next week, we will not only share the Game Update 5 notes, but also bring you the DevBlog: Botanica- but that is still not enough! That’s why we will also show you the new content in another live-stream hosted on twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte

Tune in next week Thursday, September 5^th at 4.30pm CEST when Game Designer Natacha and ComDev Basti demonstrate the beauty of the botanical garden while answering questions from the chat as well as from our Union comments section.

And one last bit of Botanica news is that our Twitch Drops Event will return with a new billboard and an Anno Union flag obtainable from September 6 until September 15. Stay tuned and save the date, as we will share the exact details and participating channels next week!

 

 

Contest Winners! #Annogeil

While we are still going through the illuminated screenshots of our #AnnoDayNight screenshot contest, we had another small contest going during gamescom: #Annogeil (which roughly translates to #crazyforanno or #thisisreallyhardtoltranslateliterally).
While we need some more time to choose the #Annodaynight winners, here are the best #annogeil (#crazyforanno) pictures from our small gamescom contest.

First Place goes to Smoper!
Congrats Smoper, the Corsair Ironclaw Wireless RGB Mouse and a Anno 1800 surprise bag will find a new home as soon as you are back from your vacation!

 

Second Place goes to: Mr. Tnt1970
A Corsair M350 Premium Mouse Pad and a Anno 1800 goodie bag will find their way into your collection! (we are a bit jealous of your Annoholic shirt, though!)

 

Third Place goes to the master collector Silvio himself!
And you can look forward to a Corsair M300 Premium Mouse Pad as well as some Anno goodies (be honest here, you have everything by now, don’t you?)

 

Special Mention goes to Beulemann
As your #Annogeil experience was hindered, we decided to also throw in an Anno Union care package for you!

Congratulations to all winners; we will get in contact with you via Twitter to send your prices on their way. We will now assemble a team to go through all the submissions of the #Annodaynight contest!

 

 

“Annohol” – German Cover

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-puLSi-J-oU

It doesn’t matter if you are a fan of German singer and songwriter Herbert Grönemeyer or whether you understand German. Just lean back and listen to this amazing cover of Grönemeyers “Alkohol”(“Alcohol”. Well. That was easy. Congrats, you’ve learned German!) by Radlerauge. It’s worth it!

Experience the Industrial Revolution and Be the First to Test the New Day & Night Cycle during the Anno 1800 Free Week!

Today, we announced that Anno 1800 will be free to play for the occasion of gamescom 2019. Until August 25*, players will be able to get a first glimpse at the upcoming day & night cycle free update, releasing on September 10 for all the players. In addition, the second DLC of the game, Botanica, will also release on September 10 as part of the Season Pass.

 

Starting today until August 25* players can play for free Anno 1800 on Uplay and the Epic Games Store. The free trial includes the first three tiers of the sandbox mode along with the multiplayer mode. In addition, players will be able to try out for the first time the upcoming day & night cycle and enjoy the beauty of their city by night, to be released as a free update for every Anno 1800 player on September 10.

 

For Anno players who already own the game, please keep in mind that while the Day & Night cycle will be coming to the full game as a free update on September 10, you can only try it next week as part of the Free Week version. If you want to see the content before it comes out, we recommend to download the free version to check out the upcoming content update.

On September 10, Season pass holders will discover Botanica, the second DLC of Anno 1800. Players will be able to grow their city’s attractiveness to new heights with a modular Botanical Garden, allowing them to earn new items and rewards as they draw the tourist masses to their floral masterpiece. Alternatively, they will be able to construct the new Musical Pavilion and enjoy beloved tracks from previous Anno games inside their city.

Beyond that, we are happy to give you a first small teaser at our third DLC, The Passage, which is coming this Winter, and will allow you to construct your very own trading airships!

 

https://youtu.be/XN9WH6h8e9U

Click here to play Anno 1800 for free this week!

*The Free Trial ends on August 26, 9am CEST

 

With the possibilities of a magical night, what better time to start a new creative contest! Together with the Free Trial, we ask you to share your wonderful screenshots with us.

And here are the rules:
– Share your #AnnoDayNight screenshot with us on Social Media or in our dedicated Ubisoft forum thread: Link.

– The deadline is August 26, and we will announce the winners in an upcoming Union Update.

And here are prices, sponsored to bring light into your gaming room by our friends at Corsair:

1st price: Nightsword RGB gaming mouse, MM800 RGB mousepad, ST100 RGB headset stand

2nd price: Nightsword RGB gaming mouse, MM800 RGB mousepad

3rd price: Nightsword RGB gaming mouse

And on top of that, we throw in one new exclusive Anno 1800 gamescom shirt as a surprise…. good luck and let there be (star)light!

 

Legal note:

*This software is a free demo of Anno 1800, playable from August 19th, 2019 10pm CEST to August 26th, 2019 9am CEST. This demo is provided AS-IS, may not contain the same content as the full/final game, may not function as expected, and may crash. Please note that maintenance may also occur at any time during this period, rendering you unable to access parts or all of the demo. Ubisoft does not commit to providing customer support for the demo.

Once a year at gamescom, hundreds of thousands of gamers from across the globe come together to celebrate games in Cologne. And once more, we want to invite all Annoholics out there to join our Community Corner sessions in the Ubisoft Lounge and to get a first glimpse of upcoming content.

The Ubisoft Lounge, which is located in the Ubisoft area in Hall 6, is our own dedicated community space where once a day, Anno fans come together to discuss all things Anno with our Community Developer, Bastian Thun. Alongside our daily stage presentations, you can rest assured that we will have some news to share with all of you!

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at gamescom 2019, as there is no advance registration to the Lounge sessions required (though we recommend to arrive early, as space is limited).

And when you are there, don’t forget to share your #Anno1800 #gamescom2019 moments with us (and the community) on Social Media!