Key Highlights:
- Ubisoft and Blue Byte celebrated the Anno franchise’s 15th anniversary in August 2013.
- The series had sold more than five million copies, while Anno 2070 had passed one million sales.
- Anno Online hosted a special anniversary event with new quests, characters and rewards.
The strategy series Anno celebrated its 15th anniversary in August 2013, with Ubisoft and Blue Byte marking the milestone through a special event inside the free-to-play browser game Anno Online.
The franchise began with Anno 1602 in Europe in 1998 and had grown to five main games and several adaptations by the time of the anniversary. Ubisoft said the series had sold more than five million copies worldwide, with Anno 2070 alone accounting for more than one million.
Anno Online was particularly important to the celebration. The browser-based city-building game had entered open beta earlier in 2013, bringing familiar Anno settlement, population and resource-management systems into a free-to-play format.
For the anniversary event, settlers travelling across the kingdom stopped at players’ islands for provisions and repairs. Completing new quests helped their flotilla continue its journey.
Another questline followed the king’s cartographer after the discovery of a mysterious island containing ruins from an unknown civilisation. Players could explore the new storyline while collecting anniversary-specific resources and rewards.
Ubisoft referred to the celebration as the “ANNOversary”, using Anno Online to recognise the franchise’s history while continuing to expand its browser-based spin-off.
Anno Online did not remain available permanently. Development eventually moved into maintenance mode and the service closed in January 2018.
The wider series continued long after the browser game disappeared. More than a decade after this 15th anniversary celebration, Anno 117: Pax Romana continues the franchise with another historical city-building setting and ongoing post-launch content.
