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Ubisoft's next ‘Anno’ game relives the age of trade and empire
The Anno RTS series focuses more on civilization-building than straight-up combat, and its later editions explored that premise centuries into the future. But the franchise's next entry casts back a couple hundred years to the past when mankind's maps weren't fully filled in. Today at Gamescom, Ubisoft announced Anno 1800, putting players in charge of nations setting sail for trade and diplomacy.
Cult-favorite sim franchise Anno to build empires on iPad
The next entry in Ubisoft's long-running, empire building Anno franchise is titled Anno: Build An Empire and instead of following in line with its PC predecessors, it's coming to the iPad. "... Anno: Build an Empire requires strategic planning to ensure players are weighing the options and consequences of their city planning in order to create powerful, successful islands," reads Ubisoft's official description. "Taverns must be built to keep citizens happy and stress-free, churches will need to be built to satisfy the need for religion and homes will need to be built to keep citizens safe." So far that seems pretty typical of the series, though Ubisoft notes that the game has been built from the ground up for the iPad's touchscreen interface. Unfortunately lacking from Ubisoft's announcement is any word on when Anno: Build An Empire might debut, beyond the claim that it should be available "soon." There's likewise no price tag associated with this release, though we've attempted to contact Ubisoft for further clarification and will report back when and if we hear anything. [Image: Ubisoft]
Anno Online goes into closed beta
City-builders rejoice, for Anno Online has gone into closed beta for its English version. The title is an MMO sequel to the Anno 1404 single-player strategy game and will be playable entirely within your browser. The goal is to build up medieval cities over time, establish trade routes, and expand one's empire over multiple islands. As the beta testing progresses, Ubisoft has plans to implement a guild system next month. Each guild can hold up to 25 people and construct guild halls for gatherings. You can check out the trailer for Anno Online after the jump! [Source: Ubisoft press release]
Anno coming to US on Wii and DS as Dawn of Discovery
Ubisoft is bringing the Anno series of historical strategy games to Wii and DS in North America under the title Dawn of Discovery this summer. It's also coming to PC -- but another strategy game on PC isn't really that big a deal. Dawn of Discovery features city-building gameplay in a simulated 1404 AD. According to the game's premise, King George's sons William and Edward are sent out to settle new territories in order to gather resources for a drought-ridden homeland. As you build your society, you will gain access to new developments from neighboring cultures through developing trade routes around the world. The Wii version, which marks the first Wii release for the series, even features 2-player cooperative play. All three versions are due out this summer. %Gallery-45958% %Gallery-45959%
You don't know what you're missing: Ubisoft delays 'unannounced franchise' (Anno, too)
Reporting its sales for the fiscal half-year today, Ubisoft also announced two software delays. "In view of the good first-half trends and the positive outlook for the third quarter, Ubisoft has decided that Anno as well as the as-yet unannounced franchise which were previously scheduled to be released in 2008-09 will now bolster the line-up for 2009-10," reads a release schedule update from the report. To be clear, Anno and "Unannounced Franchise" are likely two unrelated projects -- the former a strategy game set in 1404 and the latter, well, that's anyone's guess. The vague articulation of the mystery delay leaves the details open to speculation. Is this a new franchise? Or a new entry in an existing franchise? We'll update when we've got clarification.
