The Anno Union is a community program where we share insights into the current development of Anno 1800, while working with our community to improve the game.
To help us with the development of Anno 1800, we use expertise of our dedicated player-base; from discussions, votes and playtests of the development version of the game.

To leverage the knowledge from our community, we will make use of different forms of online playtests up to the release of the game, where we gather your feedback about the current state of the game.

We are currently looking for testers for our first rounds of Anno 1800 focus tests
Focus playtests are a great way for us to get as much detailed feedback as possible from a smaller core groups of testers which provide us daily reports for the duration of the test.

The first online focus test will run for a period of two weeks and we are currently looking for Annoholics who are willing to play at least one hour a day, over the duration of the playtest, while providing daily reports and feedback.

This minimum playtime is a requirement to ensure that we receive valuable data about the current state of the game and certain features. You are not limited to one-hour playtime and will be able to test the game as long as you like over the duration of the test.
While the first test will last two weeks, future focus tests will last at least one week.

How do I apply for the Anno Union focus playtest?
Based on feedback from our Anno Union members, we will make use of an application process to choose players for the first focus tests. We think it is a good way to get additional useful information about our potential testers.  Please keep in mind that the application process is not a competition about who played the most, as we will always look for a variety of dedicated Anno players for our test groups.

Requirements:
You must be 18 years old, able to play at least one hour a day plus additional time for reporting for the two weeks duration of the first test. Furthermore, we will only invite players registered on the Anno Union website. We expect that you are a constructive member of the Anno Union, as we do not tolerate any form of toxic or abusive behavior in our community.

To apply for one of the seats in an upcoming focus playtest, you have to write us an application, following the format below, to the following mail: Union-Playtest@bluebyte.de 

Email must contain (please copy the format below)

Title: Uplay/Union Name focus-test application

Union Name
Your display name from your Uplay account you used to register on anno-union.com
General information
Nationality / Age / Gender
Your current hardware:
CPU; RAM, Videocard; Operating System;

Anno 1602 Playtime in hours: ca. playtime in numbers like 40 or 120
Anno 1503 Playtime in hours:
Anno 1701 Playtime in hours:
Anno 1404 Playtime in hours:
Anno 2070 Playtime in hours:
Anno 2205 Playtime in hours:

What is your favorite Anno title and why:

Please describe your Anno playstyle:
Such as beauty builder, military tactician, economy player, generalist etc.

What is your most important feature/aspect about Anno:

Tell us your three favorite game genres:
Action; strategy; city building; RPG; adventure; etc.;

What other games do you currently or frequently play?
Game A; Game B;

FAQ

What does focus playtest mean?
Focus playtests are in-depth online play sessions where we need detailed feedback from a small group of players on a daily basis. Focus test sessions will run for at least a week and it is required that you play at least one hour each day in order to be able to provide us detailed feedback.

What if I won’t be able to play every day?
To get sufficient data during our development milestones, a dedicated team will make sure that we gather said reports on a daily basis. In order to make that playtests usable and feasible for us during development, we need the commitment from our testers in order to get the needed data to improve the game. We plan to run additional tests in future for players who are not able to commit to daily playtime and reporting.

I can manage one hour a day for one or two weeks easily, but can I play longer?
While 1 hour is the minimum, you will be able to test the game for as long as you like during the test. We will make use of different groups of testers, which also means that we will most likely invite an additional group for the next focus-test. Testers from a previous group go back into the pool of testers and have a chance to get invited again for future tests.

What if I get invited but won’t have time during that playtest?
If you won’t be able to join that playtest due to specific circumstances, you will put you on a waiting spot for the next group.

What kind of feature will I be able to test
During a playtest, we will test certain features of a current development build of the game. While we might test the whole game loop during certain tests, we will additionally test specific features and game content.

Are the playtests under NDA?
As you can imagine, you will see many unreleased details in order to help us improve the game. As the content you will experience is not in a state representative of what the final game will be,  we don’t want that any content from the focus playtests is getting shared with the public.
With the NDA, you acknowledge that you won’t share any details about the game or other internal information with the public.

Is there an age requirement?
While we know that many fans across all age groups enjoy Anno, you need to be at least 18 + for all playtest sessions under NDA, which includes all current focus playtests.