Author: Bastian Thun

Union Update: Fan art showcase and gamescom

Posted on by Bastian Thun

Welcome back to another Union Update, this time with some handcrafted Anno goodness, bustling Amusement parks from aspiring community screenshot artists and an update from our streaming front.

Anno 1800 Fanart Showcase

Let`s kick off the update with a brilliant art-piece from Twitter Annoholic Asia Larkin, who put in some serious hours (about 70 to be precise) to create a cross stitch version of our 1800 logo!
And the result is truly marvelous:

From paintings to cross stitch artworks, fan creations display true dedication and artistry. If you are a hobby crafter, musician, artist, or story writer with a passion for Anno, let us know! We love to showcase your creations and you cannot underestimate the moral boost your work has on our development team.

 

Show off your Amusement Pack Screenshots

Since launch, countless Annoholic`s shared their screenshots of picturesque landscapes, busy metropolitan streets, or industrial panoramas. With our new “Amusements Pack”, many beauty builders went to town immediately and overhauled their city centre with new stalls, rides and not to forget the main attraction: the roller coaster!
Here are some of your wallpaper worthy Amusement screenshots and we cannot wait so see more of your creations. Who knows, we might get inspired to run a new contest.

Big thanks an Theves, Giant Mountain, Hawkar Qadir and Nitram for sharing their wonderful screenshots!

And with the “Amusements Pack” going down so well with our communities out there, there is a good chance for some nice additions to your bustling city life in the future!

gamescom digital and live streams

Finally, let`s talk about streaming. 2020 was a wild ride for us and while our Season 2 goes as planned, the work on our brand new streaming room had to be delayed. As a result of that, we had to pause dev streams as well as our AnnoCast community podcast. While our community streams enjoy great popularity, we plan to bring the dev streams back to the channel and are working on some ideas for some brand new shows to give you a closer look behind the scenes of our studio.

It will take more time until our new room is done and we can return our classic shows, but we will continue to bring you more community streams and with gamescom, we are going digital with our Anno 1800 masterclass show this Friday. While the masterclass and our gaming career panel will be held in German, we are curious if you would love to see more panel formats where our developers dive deep into a specific topic or where we demonstrate how our developers bring games to life.

Here comes an overview of our Gamescom streams this Friday. As mentioned, they will be held in German but rest assured we will share Game Update 9 details with all of you on the Anno Union after the stream.

 

We are curious, what would you love to see more on our Twitch channel and maybe your feedback sparks the idea for a brand-new show.  Your voice matters, so share your thoughts on our Twitch channel in the comments below.

Ferris Wheels and Twitch Drops

Posted on by Bastian Thun

Over the coming weekend we will give you the opportunity to already take a closer look at the contents of upcoming Season 2 Pass DLC “Bright Harvest” as well as Game Update 8 by watching some of your favourite streamers during another Twitch Drops Event.

The whole event takes place from Friday May 29 until June 8.


During the event, you will be able to watch how a variety of selected Twitch streamers attempt to integrate the new tractor modules into their farming islands and maybe also use some of the new ornaments to beatify their cities further.

Anyone watching them build a new farming paradise can grab two brand new ornaments, the Bright Harvest Flag and the Bright Harvest Billboard. The only thing you need to do is link your Uplay to your Twitch account and watch the streamers during the event for up to 3 hours to receive your loot. You don’t have to watch these hours consecutively to receive your drop; watching them accumulated on participating streamers will also grant you the ornaments.

If you haven’t already done so in the past, to link your Ubisoft- and Twitch-account, just follow the steps outlined on this website [https://drops-register.ubi.com/]

You can find the full list of all participating Streamer here:


A Day at the Amusements – Update

Our art team jumped on the challenge of creating 15 new ornaments as soon as the voting for our next Cosmetic DLC Pack ended. Today, we asked our Lead Artist Tim Witprächtiger to give you all a first update on where we are at:

“Lately, we started working on the 3D object for the Ferris Wheel based on the concept our 2D Artists created. At the moment, we are trying to get the right scale and adding all the small details to the model before we start texturing and animating the asset.“


We cannot wait to see how you make use of the exciting amusement park ornaments later this summer. While the Ferris Wheel is surely a highlight, we can tell that much that it won`t be the only stunning centrepiece for your funfair. We are eager to listen to your feedback and we hope that you are as excited as we are about the ornamental set, because we surely would love to bring even more variety to your metropolis in the future!

Celebrating more than 1 Million Anno 1800 players

Posted on by Bastian Thun

Hey Anno Community,

happy Monday. And what a great Monday it is! Not only did we just reveal our plans for Season 2 of Anno 1800 (which begins in just two weeks with our next DLC, Seat of Power!), but we also want to share and celebrate a special milestone with all of you.

2019 was an incredible year for the Anno 1800 team. From seeing our game becoming a hit on Twitch during the Closed Beta in January and the game’s launch in April, to three DLCs and lots of improvements throughout the following months, it was quite the adventure. We even won a lot of awards (and were nominated for even more)! The last highlight of the year came in December, when – thanks to all of you! – Anno 1800 reached the milestone of more than 1 million players after less than nine months on the market, confirming its status as the fastest-selling game in our beloved 21-year-old series!

1 million is obviously a huge number, but how does that translate into the world of Anno’s gameplay? To give you a better idea of all the shared achievements of the Anno community, we have put together this handy infographic, showing some of the mind-boggling numbers that can be reached when over 1 million Annoholics get down to business.

 

Of course, we could not have reached this milestone without the passion and support of the Anno Union community, who have been with us every step of the way for the past two and a half years. As a special “thank you” for the love and support of the Anno community, we are releasing this free ornament with Game Update 6.3, which is out today.

 

Test Anno 1800 for free from March 12-15

Of course, it would not be a proper celebration if we did not invite everybody! So, if you have to yet take the plunge into the industrial revolution, you can test Anno 1800 for free from March 12-15*. The Anno 1800 Free Weekend will give you access to the first three tiers of Sandbox Mode, as well as multiplayer and co-op mode. The pre-load is now available via Epic Games Store and on Uplay, and you can see the exact times of the Free Weekend on Uplay below.

 

Here is to an exciting Season 2!

The Anno 1800 Team

 

*Play a free demo of Anno 1800 from 12th March, 2020 3pm UTC to 16th March, 2020 2pm UTC on EPIC PC and from 12th March, 2020 11am UTC to 16th March, 2020 2pm UTC on Uplay. The game is provided AS-IS, 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 game. Internet access and Ubisoft Account registration required.  

Union Update: About Writing Adventures

Posted on by Bastian Thun

In this week’s Union Update, we bring you another episode of our Union Talk show, this time we invited Game Writer África Curiel Gálvez to talk about inspirations and work on The Passage’s tense campaign story and background.

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With the Union Talk show, we not only want to keep you in the loop about recent developments and news from the world of Anno, we also want to provide insights into the work of our developers. Is there anything you always wanted to know more about? Are you curious about a specific aspect of game development or an ingredient of the Anno series? Let us know in the comments below for future episodes of the Union Talk!

Community Highlight: Meet thousands of Annoholics on r/anno
Over the last years, our Anno subreddit grew from a knowledgeable, albeit small corner to a huge gathering place for Anno fans around the world. By the time of this writing, the reddit.com/r/anno channel gathered almost 20.000 Annoholics with hundreds of active readers every day.
From gameplay discussions over funny findings and memes to elaborate guides, we highly encourage everyone to check out this inviting community of fans and experts!

A new episode of Anno Afternoon with a very special throwback to a classic
A nunchuk? What are Thorlof and Trenchcoat up to now? Better turn into this Friday’s very special Anno Afternoon Stream, as we dive into an old classic even many of you veterans out there might not be that familiar with!

Tune in this Friday at 5pm CET at twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte

 

Don’t miss our big Lunar Sale discounts on the Anno series!
Anything missing? The Anno series is currently discounted during our big Ubisoft Lunar Sale, the perfect opportunity to grab old classics or even dive into the world of the industrial revolution.
And if you reading this right now on January 29, you can grab Anno 1800 Gold Edition in our flash sale for the price of 38 Euro (or regional equivalent). Yes your calculation is correct, -60% discount for the Gold Edition, including the Base Game, Anarchist DLC and the Season Pass!

 

Union Update: Into the new year

Posted on by Bastian Thun

During our winter break, we had some time to reminisce over an exciting launch and a season full of content. The whole team is now back in the studio and in high spirit to improve and grow Anno 1800 even further in 2020.

The Passage expanded the world of Anno 1800 significantly and to take the time to ensure quality and the support from the Anno Union payed of greatly. Furthermore, we have now a full season of content to look back and with that, a lot of valuable feedback to utilize for all future improvements and upcoming content. But while you must wait a bit longer until we can share the first news about what’s to come, we are not spending our time idly: our first update, Game Update 6.2, will land next Thursday, January 23, already.

 

Anno 1800 nominated for the DICE award “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year”

Before we dive into the update notes, we have more news to share. Anno 1800 received great reception not only from players and from the gaming press, our game was also the big winner at the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis Awards and received several other nominations.We are happy to announce that Anno 1800 got now nominated for one of gaming’s most well-respected awards: The DICE Award for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year. Let’s cross our fingers together but one thing is for sure, the nomination alone is a big honor and an achievement for the game and for all Anno players out there.

 

 

Bringing Anno 1800 to laptop gamers around the world

The 21 year old Anno series is a great testimonial of how much technology changed and improved in over two decades. With Anno 1800, our studio and Intel collaborated to bring our complex and detailed simulation game to laptop users around the world, even without a dedicated GPU. Tech savvy Union members can now read up on our journey in an article on Intel’s Developer Zone, including a lot of details and interesting development insights.

 

 

Anno Union Winter Break

Posted on by Bastian Thun

This year has been an incredible ride and 2019 will always be remembered as a big moment in Anno history, where Anno 1800 finally set sail to conquer the world. But it is not the end of a journey, merely a beginning. With the support of the Anno Union, the game became an overwhelming success and with the wind in our back and the wide horizon before us, we are looking into a bright future for the series.

Only 8 months after our maidens’ voyage, many thousands of players pushing their empires into the industrial revolutions every day and the numbers are still growing. With a strong season of content, from Sunken Treasures, Botanica and our latest DLC The Passage, up to many free game additions and updates such as Co-op, day night and statistics, our journey is far from over.

New adventures will await you 2020, with new content to expand the scope and enhance the experience of Anno 1800 even further. But before that, it is time to catch breath and to enjoy the holiday season with our family, friends and most likely playing a lot of games during our Anno Union winter break.

We will return in January with insights and updates about our future vision for the game. Until then, the whole Ubisoft Mainz team says thanks to all of you for your incredible support in 2019 and a happy holiday season to you and your beloved ones.

Union Update: Let’s celebrate 2019!

Posted on by Bastian Thun

It was an eventful year and we reach the final week of the Anno Union coverage until head into our traditional winter break in order to
recharge our batteries, most likely during Co-op matches with our friends and
family. And to end this exciting and eventful year on a high note, as we have two more live-streams to come, an early Christmas gift for all of you and not to forget, we had our big win at this year’s German Entwicklerpreis game awards show!

Game Update 6.1 lands tomorrow, Tuesday December 17. at 2pm CET

The start of the week is marked by Game Update 6.1, which will land Tuesday December 13. at 2pm CET (tentatively). The update will address issues reported by our communities about instances of stability and performance issues as well as getting rid of the pesky fog haunting your islands. You can check out the full release notes here. Smooth sailing!

Anno 1800 wins in four categories at the German Game Awards

The Anno Union accompanied the development of the game since the early days and your influence on the quality of the game is something which we are very proud of. And so should you be, given the fact that Anno 1800 had been nominated for four awards at this year’s Germen Developer Awards: Best Graphics, Best Sound, Best Game Design and overall Best Game.

 

As you can imagine, we were incredibly excited to win not one, not two, not three, but four of these awards for our game! Thank you all for your support and encouragement during development of the game.

Lights and camera on – Two more live-streams to come this Wednesday and Friday!

What better way to end the year for us than to celebrate 2019 and the upcoming holiday season with all of you.

This Wednesday, we will host another episode of our AnnoCast livestream directly from the Anno 1800 studio in Mainz. As has become a tradition in the last years, we invite you to our get together where we reminisce about 2019’s big milestones, from launch to the many updates which followed, while playing Anno 1800, eating cookies and raffling out a few early Christmas gifts to our loyal viewers.
AnnoCast: Holiday Special this Wednesday, December 18 at 4pm CET until 6pm CET

But our Anno 1800 community team does not plan to end the year quietly either, as they will once more journey into the frozen north on their search for the lost Christmas presents. To find out whether they will succeed (plus a chance to grab some Anno goodies yourself), tune in this Friday to support them morally on their adventure.
AnnoAfternoon: The lost Presents, December 20 at 5pm CET until 7pm CET 

And to watch, the only thing you have to do is to grab a tea or hot chocolate (we hear there may be some coffee shortages…) and to tune in to our official Ubisoft Blue Byte channel: Twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte 

  And to ensure that you don’t miss any future shows, feel free to follow our channel and the Anno 1800 category on twitch!

 

Anno 1800 Wallpaper Pack

Last but not least, we have a little gift for all of you to get you in the right mood for the holidays. In response to the high demand from our communities, we re-sized a bunch of the Anno 1800 season pass and holiday key-arts and wrapped them in a nice Wallpaper package. Don’t forget to let us know your favorite one and we are curious if you created your own Anno wallpapers in the past.

You can just download the package here:

 

AnnoUnion_WallpaperHerunterladen

Happy Holidays and we see you Wednesday!

 

 

The Passage, Holiday Pack and GU 6 are here!

Posted on by Bastian Thun

It’s a busy day, as we have a ton of new content and features for Anno 1800, so let’s dive right in to give you all the details you need! All of the below will go live today, December 10, at 6pm CET/ 5PM UTC/ 12pm EST/ 9AM PST.

 

The Passage DLC (part of the Anno 1800 Season Pass or 14.99€/$ stand-alone purchase)

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Construct arctic outposts in an all-new arctic session and bring them to life with the new Explorer and Technician residential tiers.

Conquer the skies

Construct a fleet of airships to speed up the trade across all sessions of your empire.

New Arctic goods

Master new production chains and arctic trade goods such as Pemmican, parkas and husky sleds.

Crucial warmth

Use the new heating system to ensure your residents survive the brutal cold of the Passage.

More industrial adventure

Take your Anno 1800 experience to the next level with over 60 new quests and over 80 new items.

 

Holiday Pack DLC (3.99€/$ stand-alone purchase)

Short description:

Bring the spirit of the holidays to Anno 1800 with this new cosmetic DLC pack, which includes 23 new ornaments that allow you to decorate your cities in festive style.

 

  • A festive carousel, including fan favorite vehicles from the game.
  • Two Christmas trees, to fit the occasion.
  • Santa’s Grotto, giving your citizens a chance to share their wish lists with him.
  • Three different markets stalls for your very own Christmas market.
  • A jolly hoard of Christmas presents
  • Two festively ornamented street lanterns.
  • An appropriately wintery snowman ornament.
  • A decorated hedge system with six tiles.
  • A decorated fence system with six tiles.

 

 

Game Update 6 (4.8GB download)

This free Game Update includes several much requested features, including the co-op multiplayer mode, in-depth statistics and a multi-copy tool for buildings.

You can find the full release notes here.

 

Anno 1800 Free Week

Posted on by Bastian Thun

Play in the Anno 1800 Free Week from December 11 to 18
It has been 8 months and many Game Updates and improvements since Anno 1800 first set sail. To show any of you still on the fence how far the game has come since launch (and to give you the perfect excuse to invite some friends to try the new co-op mode together) we are running another Free Week for Anno 1800 later this month. From December 11 to 18, everyone can download and play the Free Week version of Anno 1800 from Uplay or the Epic Games Store. As with our first free week back in August, keep in mind that this is a stand-alone build of Anno 1800 that you must be separately downloaded. In addition, it is for technical reasons not possible to carry over any save games from the Free Week version to the regular game.

The free version of Anno 1800 will include the first three residential tiers in sandbox mode as well as all free Game Updates, which means multiplayer and co-op for everyone (alongside previously released content like the day & night mode). The content of the Anno 1800 Season Pass won’t be included in the Free Week version of Anno 1800.

And if you have some friends that you always wanted to play some co-op with who have yet to get the game, we have some good news for them: as part of the Free Week, all three editions of the game will be discounted by up to 55% on the Epic Games Store and Uplay!

 

 

The Future of Anno 1800

Posted on by Bastian Thun

As we get closer to next week’s update hattrick of The Passage (available as part of the Anno 1800 Season Pass or as a stand-alone purchase), co-op mode and new statistics system (available as a free update to all players), one question has become prevalent within our communities: “What`s next for Anno 1800?” Does The Passage mark not only the end of our Season Pass, but of development overall? Or can Annoholics look forward to more industrial adventures in 2020? Today, we want to answer that question by raising the curtain just a little bit…

Bring the Holiday Spirit to your cities on December 10

First, we have one more surprise in store for next week- the release of our “Holiday Pack”. This standalone DLC Pack (not included in the Season Pass or any editions of the game) adds a total of 23 new ornaments to the game, allowing players to build their very own Christmas Markets in their cities- including huts, Christmas trees and even a carousel featuring some vehicles from the game!

 

If all this sounds familiar to you as Anno fans, you are right; we did similar content packs for Anno 2070 as well, like the “Eden Series Package”. So why bring them back now? We know that Anno players love few things more than having new buildings to add to their cities, and there can never be enough variety when it comes to decorations and ornaments! At the same time, feature-rich DLCs like The Passage take several months of development, making it impossible for us to release them as frequently as we would like to deliver new content to you all to keep Anno 1800 exciting and fresh.

As a compromise between these aspects, our talented art team has created this pack of Holiday-themed ornaments to see if this is a content format that will appeal to the Anno community. Should the Holiday Pack prove popular with players, we would love to create more such themed packs in the future. Who knows, we could even run a vote on the Anno Union to decide on future themes to give you all something to look forward to as we work on new gameplay content!

And speaking of which…

There is more Anno 1800 on the way!

Enough teasing, here is what you all wanted to hear: The Passage is not the end for Anno 1800, and we are working on new gameplay content and features to further expand the world of the industrial revolution in 2020!

There is however a caveat: The team has been busy finishing The Passage and Game Update 6, and it will be some time before we will be able to share more concrete information with you all.

With that said, we hope you are as excited about this news as the team is, and we look forward to talking more about the future of Anno next year!