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.
Prior to the release of The Passage last December, we excitedly announced our plan to deliver even more Anno 1800 to our 1 million+ pioneers of industrial revolution throughout 2020. This presents a unique opportunity for the Anno team, as it means that Anno 1800 will be receiving more postlaunch support than any previous game in the series! In the past, development of content has ended a year or so after the release of an Anno game, with the team moving on to the next title. With Anno 1800, we are excited to have the chance to flesh out the world of the industrial revolution even further, with new systems, citizen tiers and yes, even a new continent. Enter stage right: The Anno 1800 Season 2 Pass, which will be adding three exciting new DLCs to the game this year!
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It all begins later this month with our next DLC pack, Seat of Power, which allows you to construct a magnificent palace fit for the ruler of an industrial empire. And while we know that our modular buildings like the zoo or botanical garden are big hits with beauty builders, the palace has an altogether more profound impact on life in your capital. As the eponymous Seat of Power, the palace will house several departments, each giving you not only a passive bonus, but also the pick of several policies that you can use to influence different aspects of life in your city.
A majestically illuminated palace at night
Game Update 7 (March 24, free for all players)
Speaking of influence, we would be remiss if we did not mention our free Game Updates. As with Season 1, each of our three Season 2 DLCs will release alongside a free Game Update that will further improve and enhance the game for all Anno 1800 players. With Game Update 7, we will tackle one of the most discussed game systems by adding three separate difficulty tiers for the influence system. With this change, you can select whether you want to earn more, less or the same amount of influence as you currently do. And yes, this will also apply to existing save games, asking you to pick a difficulty the first time you load up your save game!
Bright Harvest (Summer 2020)
With our second DLC, we are taking the technological marvels of the second industrial revolution to the countryside, allowing you to boost your farms’ productivity to unknown heights! To do so, you will place new tractor modules on your farms, which will increase the overall productivity of the farm, while also lowering the required workforce. Depending on how many farms you have, this could mean a whole lot more space on your islands, and we can’t wait to see what you do with it! Of course, you will have to make sure that your tractors don’t run out of fuel along the way…
Early technical test of a tractor
To round out the theme of industrialization, Bright Harvest will also include a new selection of farming-and-industry-themed ornaments, to make your cities feel even livelier.
Land of Lions (2020)
We bet you didn’t see this one coming, eh? Jokes aside, we know that the community has been clamoring for an African-inspired session in Anno 1800 ever since we first announced that the game would be using the Session system, way back in 2017. Good things come to those who wait, and we are happy to say that Land of Lions will be the biggest DLC for Anno 1800, including a new session and continent, new citizen tiers, buildings, production chains and quests. In a new storyline, you will travel to the drylands to join up with Emperor Ketema, as he works to turn his lands green.
Discover the Land of Lions later this year
You will do so using the new irrigation system, making smart use of what little existing water there is on the map to construct a network of canals and fertile patches of soil. Anno veterans will notice similarities to Anno 1404’s Noria, though Land of Lions puts an all-new spin on the timeless fantasy of making the desert bloom. We also listened to your feedback regarding the Passage, and rest assured that Land of Lions will have a deeper impact on things in the old world! We will have much more information about all the new content later this year.
The Season 2 Pass is now available!
In addition to these three DLCs, buyers of the Season 2 Pass will also receive three exclusive new ornaments when Seat of Power launches on March 24th— so enjoy your first look at the appropriately-themed ‘Palatial Column’, ‘Ploughman’s Glory’ and ‘Elephountain’.
The Palatial Column and majestic Elephountain
The Season 2 Pass for Anno 1800 (including Seat of Power, Bright Harvest, Land of Lions and the three ornaments) is now available for purchase from Epic Games Store, Steam (Update: The Season 2 Pass sadly won’t become available on Steam until Seat of POwer and Uplay, for a price of 24,99 $/ €, which will represent a saving of 9,99 $/ € versus individual purchase of the three DLCs. We can’t wait to show you more about all three DLCs, and our free Game Updates over the coming months!
The Ploughman’s Glory is a monument to your farming prowess
As we are getting ready to reveal our 2020 plans for Anno 1800 next month, we want to inform you about some changes in the Anno development team. At the end of last year, we said goodbye to two long-time veterans of the franchise, Burkhard Ratheiser and Dirk Riegert. While we are sad to see them leave Anno, we can appreciate that working on the same gaming series for over 15 years is a long time and that the huge success of Anno 1800 makes this the perfect time to hand the scepter over to our new leadership. Rest assured that both are staying with Ubisoft Mainz, exploring new ideas for future projects!
Burkhard is not only one of the co-founders of our studio here in Mainz but has been instrumental in Anno’s transition to full 3D as the Lead Programmer of our game engine during the development of 1701. Following that, he worked on Anno 1404 and 2070 as the Head of Graphics and R&D, before moving into game production with Anno 2205. Over the last years, he led Anno 1800’s development as Executive Producer. Of course, many of you know also know him from the eponymous “Burkhard’s Trail” easter egg from Sunken Treasures.
Burkhard on staging presenting Anno 1800
“I’m very thankful that I had the chance to contribute in several different roles to this great franchise. For the last 15 years Anno has always played a big part in my life and with Anno 1800 being the fastest selling Anno ever and for many also the best installment so far, the time has come for me to move to new ventures, handing over the baton to a new team. I would like to thank the Anno community for their great support and feedback over all these years, knowing that the fruitful collaboration will ensure that Anno has a bright future, continuing in providing countless hours of joy and excitement to our fans.” – Burkhard
Dirk probably needs no introduction to Anno devotees, given the number of interviews and live streams he has participated in over the years, earning him the loving nickname of Karrenschieber (“cart pusher”). He is one of the driving forces behind the Anno games developed in Mainz, starting as Lead Game Designer on Anno 1701 and 1404, before taking over as the franchise’s Creative Director with the Venice add-on. He then took the franchise into the future and even space with Anno 2070 and 2205, before leading the Anno team and franchise into the age of the industrial revolution with Anno 1800 as Senior Creative Director.
„When I started as Lead Designer on ANNO 1701, I wouldn’t have dared to dream that I would help shape five Anno games over the coming 15 years! It is said that one should quit while they are ahead, and after the great success of ANNO 1800 last year this moment has finally come for me. I am already working on new, exciting projects within Ubisoft. The baton with the golden nine engraved in its knob has been passed on to Manuel. I for sure know that he will take perfect care of it.” – Dirk
Dirk across the ages
Which brings us to our new Game Director, so please welcome Manuel Reinher!
Manuel is a true strategy gaming veteran, having first started his career as an artist at Phenomic on Spellforce in 2004, before filling a variety of art related roles on games such as Spellforce 2 and Battleforge (by then as EA Phenomic, as the studio had been acquired by Electronic Arts in 2006). He has now been with Ubisoft Mainz for over 6 years, starting as Lead Artist for the futuristic cityscapes of Anno 2205, before leading the art team responsible for the detail-obsessed 19th century world of Anno 1800. As Game Director, he will oversee the overall future of the Anno franchise, both for future Anno 1800 content and beyond.
“Hi Anno Union, I’m Manuel, and extremely honored to follow in the footsteps of Burkhard and Dirk. Working on Anno for the last years has been a fantastic journey: After our adventures in space we brought the game back to a historical setting and we are extremely proud to kick off 2020 with new ideas and full of energy.
But, before we head into a bright ANNO future, I want to take the opportunity to say thank you: The success of Anno is just possible because of our hard-working team and the fantastic support we have from our community. So, I grab the baton: we have more opportunities than ever and I’m very excited to take the next steps together with all of you.” – Manuel
Manuel hard at work
And that’s it for today! Please give a round of applause to Burkhard and Dirk for their many contributions to Anno, and a warm welcome to Manuel! And as always, keep an eye on the Anno Union, as we get ready to unveil our plans for Anno 1800 in 2020!
Episode 6 of our Union Talk show is here, with Community Developer Basti and Brand Manager Marcel talking about the differences and challenges of Anno 1800’s first year and what is to come. They also address the unusual quiet on the Anno Union in early 2020 and might even know a thing or two about when things will pick up again…
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Our Union Talks aim at providing you insights into the work of our developers and certain processes behind the scenes as well as news about the most recent developments for Anno 1800. Is there a topic 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!
Anno Afternoon – Scuba Diving Cows
Since they were not able to save all cows from the flood last time, Ubi-Hanabi and Ubi-Thorlof return to the world of Anno 2070. With their priorities set and the heart-shaped city completed, it’s time to explore the ocean and build an underwater base. Tune in for a fun and relaxed Anno Afternoon on Friday, 28. February, at 4PM UTC over on twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte
We also want to use this opportunity to thank you for sending us save games of your Anno 1800 playthrough! We will showcase them in the next Anno Afternoon (March 13th) – Ubi-Hanabi is already looking forward to getting her hands on them.
And of course, feel free to also send us YOUR save game for the stream! Just send them via mail at anno-community@ubisoft.com
Podcast – Environment Sounds in Anno 1800
There’s always something going on in the world of Anno 1800, but all the activity on the roads and sea is not just visual. Listen to the latest Game Makers podcast with members of Anno 1800’s audio team and learn about how sounds adapt based on camera zoom or jumping from one end of the map to the other. Audio Director Stefan Randelshofer and Lead Audio Designer Tino Schleinitz from Ubisoft Düsseldorf talk about how they developed a brand-new environmental sound system for Anno 1800. Give it a listen!
The New Year is already over one month old – about time to share a Union Update with you, feature some great Anno 1800 creations from our community and let you know about our upcoming live streams.
Anno Afternoon Stream
This Friday our community team is traveling into the future for another Anno Afternoon. On this Anno 2070 adventure, Ubi-Thorlof invited his colleague Ubi-Hanabi – the goal: brew some tea, hug a few trees and save everyone from drowning. Join them on their adventure over on twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte
And if you want your Anno 1800 city to be featured, judged and most likely also devastated live on stream, send us your save games at anno-community@ubisoft.com! When we have gathered a few, we will show off your layouts, parks and fleets in a future Anno Afternoon. *
*We can only accept unmodded save games
Community Spotlight
As usual, we want to share some of the cool creations and stories from the community here on the Anno Union.
Let’s start with jasperwillem’s blog, a great source for tutorials and tips&tricks for Anno 1800. You can find detailed blogs and videos about all phases of the game, the different population levels and more. Worth checking out!
If you instead prefer some entertainment, Normul8or’s new video series could be for you. The goal: creating a city purely dependent on imports. To follow him on his journey, head on over to his YouTube channel.
Now, we all know you love creating beautiful cities with massive parks and impressive zoos and museums. And we never grow tired of looking at your creations and sharing them here.
Bootlegsoldierwent all-in and hid something in his city – can you see it?
And since working in a team gets things done a lot quicker, Smeerwolfteamed up with some friends to beautify his city – the result you can see here:
We know you’re all waiting for what exciting things we have planned for Anno 1800 this year. Right now we’re still very busy creating new content for you to enjoy and are looking forward to sharing more with you, soon.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
