Ubisoft Thrills Fans with New "Anno 117: Pax Romana" Announcement

Ubisoft has announced "Anno 117: Pax Romana," surprising Anno fans. You can watch a Trailer here!
Once again, Steam users will miss out at launch.

A Journey Through Time

The Anno series has explored many centuries, from 1401 to the future in 2205. This latest game takes players further back in time than ever before.

New Role and Gameplay

In "Anno 117: Pax Romana," players become a Roman governor. You manage your empire's needs by building your city, trading with other regions, or expanding through wars. Ubisoft Mainz developed the game, revealed in a live-action trailer during Ubisoft Forward.

Release Details

"Anno 117: Pax Romana" will release next year for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Setting and Regions

"Anno 117: Pax Romana" is set in Rome and the English province. For the first time, players can choose between two regions at the start: the Roman capital and Celtic-Roman England. Previous games had a main region with smaller secondary locations.

Gameplay Features

As a governor of the twin provinces of the Roman Empire, your decisions impact the citizens. Build, trade, and expand while using opportunities and challenges in Albion and Latium. Diplomacy and military strategies will also play a role. The game will be available for PC (Ubisoft Store and Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Following "Anno 1800"

"Anno 117" follows 2019's "Anno 1800," which many fans consider the best installment. "Anno 1800" received numerous DLCs, expanding its complexity. The fourth and final Season Pass added a new population tier and airships, alongside previous additions like harbor cities and skyscrapers. Free updates complemented the paid DLCs, evolving the game since its 2019 launch. "Anno 1800" won the Best German Computer Game award in 2020, and console versions were released in 2023.

Development Funding

The industry magazine Gameswirtschaft reported that Ubisoft received nearly 5.7 million euros in game development funding for the new Anno game. Ubisoft confirmed that "Anno 117" is supported by these funds.

Anno Series Tradition

"Anno 117" is the eighth game in the series, following 1602, 1503, 1701, 1404, 2070, 2205, and 1800. The digits in the year titles traditionally sum to 9. After "Anno 117," "Anno 9" could be next.

Complicated History with Steam

The relationship between Ubisoft and Valve (Steam) has always been complicated. New games often launch only on Ubisoft Connect and/or the Epic Games Store, with Steam releases delayed by six to twelve months. For example, The Settlers was released on Steam a year after its Epic launch, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will follow six months later. Only Free2Play or smaller games sometimes launch simultaneously on Steam.

"Anno 1800" had a more extreme case. Ubisoft launched it on Steam in April 2019 but only for pre-orders. The regular Steam release came in December 2022, three and a half years later, with issues. Steam didn't recognize the main game from 2019, preventing purchases of Seasons or the Deluxe Pack, leading to poor reviews. The issues have mostly been resolved now.

Ubisoft's decision to exclude Steam from new releases like Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Anno 117 may disappoint some fans.

Stay tuned for more updates on Anno 117: Pax Romana and other exciting gaming news by visiting our website. Don't miss out on the latest developments and exclusive content! Join our community of avid gamers today."