While it’s sometimes hard to believe for the ones who played the very first game: 2023 officially is the 25th anniversary of the Anno series!
Over the course of these 25 years, 7 games were developed and released and our latest game, Anno 1800, even found its way onto next-gen consoles!
From 2D sprite graphics to full 3D games, across the late middle ages, into the future and back into the industrial revolution, the Anno games feature multiple different settings and styles – and even went underwater (Anno 2070) and to the moon (Anno 2205).
At the core, however, they remained Anno: a mix of city builder, economy simulation and logistics management – with some not insignificant sprinkles of exploration, diplomacy and potentially also war. Take your time and slowly expand to new islands, build large parks and set up trade routes – or rush towards the most-promising islands, crunch numbers to maximise production and crush anyone who threatens your hegemony: Choose your own playstyle to enjoy the world of Anno!
And no matter at which point of this 25-year-long journey you joined the “Annoholics”, we’re extremely happy to have you on board!
Read on for a travel through Anno’s history:
March 31, 1998
The first Anno game, Anno 1602, is released
The birth of what would later become the Anno series!
With its mix of city building, economy and logistics management, it quickly gained a large following - especially in the German market. Careful selection of the starting island with enough space and the right fertilities, and subsequent expansion to more islands to meet the increasingly demanding needs of the population, have been the cornerstones of Anno ever since. Not to be forgotten are the ship and land battles to beat all would-be competitors.
October 25, 2002
Anno 1503
The success of Anno 1602 prompted the development of a successor - and Anno 1503 made sure to expand on all aspects of the previous game: Larger worlds, more buildings and production chains, more combat units, more bioms and cultures on the map... more of everything! (And in the ``History Edition`` now also with full multiplayer.)
It also is remembered for its twist on making money: No longer can players rely on taxes, but are instead fully reliant on selling goods to their population.
October 26, 2006
Anno 1701
Anno 1701 holds a special place in our hearts. As we mentioned in the past, it is a game of many firsts. Not only is 1701 the first Anno title fully in 3D, but also the first one to be created by the team that is now known as Ubisoft Mainz. Furthermore, this is the first Anno game in which you're accompanied by the incredible notes of Dynamedion. Last but not least, it is the Anno game where the name Jorgensen has appeared for the first time... And never left ever since.
June 25, 2009
Anno 1404
Probably one of the most beloved entries in the series, Anno 1404 quickly became a staple within the Anno community and introduced some crucial game features that are still evident more than a decade later in Anno 1800. It is indeed the first Anno game that introduced two different playable civilizations, deeply intertwined between each other by trade - as well as items! With its expansion coming a year later, Anno 1404: Venice, it enhanced an already rich gameplay with a multiplayer mode and new impactful features. Our favourite? The espionage system, of course.
November 17, 2011
Anno 2070
After exploring past eras for so long, we decided to take a leap of faith and jump into the future. With Anno 2070 you became an architect of the future, facing the challenges and consequences of global warming and environmental disaster. With this title, we introduced ecological themes to the gameplay with one simple rule: your choices mattered and had an impact on the eco balance of your empire. But that's not all: Anno 2070 gave players the unique experience of diving below the waves and building worlds in the hidden depths of the ocean!
November 3, 2015
Exploring space with Anno 2205
This was the year you reached for the stars and established a colony on the moon. While still set in the future, Anno 2205 focused on discovering technologies rather than ecological themes, and space exploration instead of diving into the ocean. For the first time, the world of Anno was split into multiple regions - all waiting for you to explore them - that you had to connect with large trade networks. Combat took a far more optional role and received its own instance.
April 16, 2019
Anno 1800
The dawn of a new era, but also a return to the roots and a historically inspired settings. Anno 1800 quickly became the fastest-selling Anno game and attracted more than a million players within its first nine months on the market. The outpour of love and support that this title has received in the past four years has been incredible. The fantastic feedback also prompted us to dive deeper into an Anno game than ever before by working on postlaunch content for over 4 years - adding skyscrapers, airships and new regions to Anno 1800.
June 25, 2020
A jump into the past with the Anno History Collection
With the History Collection we updated the beloved first four games of the Anno series in order to make them compatible with modern PCs and bring back multiplayer for you to enjoy the game with your friends, while still maintaining the beloved classic gameplay that made players all over the world fall in love with the series.
March 16, 2023
We brought the Industrial Revolution to console, with Anno 1800 Console Edition
You can now lead the industrial revolution with your controller. With fully redesigned UI and controls, Anno 1800 Console Edition marked a major step for us and for you, the Community: we welcomed so many new Annoholics to the family!
We at Ubisoft Mainz are working on the Anno brand since Anno 1701, the third game in the series, when we also established a so far unbroken tradition: There always has to be an NPC called “Jorgensen” in each game.
There’s yet another tradition, one that we carried over from the first two games: using a game title with the checksum 9. While at first only a coincidence, the “devine nine” has become something that we happily embraced and continued to carry forward.
Is there more to it? Are we all secretly sudoku fans? Are the Jorgensen leading a plot to take over the Anno world? We might never find out…
From the whole Anno team: Thank you for being on this journey with us for all these years!
We’re extremely lucky to have such a fantastic community supporting us (as well as pointing out, when they were unhappy) and are looking forward to what the coming years will bring!