By Joseph Luster

Whether you aim to oppress, liberate, innovate or exploit, there’s a path just for you somewhere within the winding world of Anno 1800. The city-building real-time strategy game first launched in April 2019, marking the seventh entry in the series and a return to a classic historical setting. This one places us smack dab in the middle of the 19th century Industrial Revolution, introducing plenty of new gameplay aspects and, as of 2023, a new edition for consoles.

Following a technical test in November, Ubisoft plans to bring Anno 1800 Console Edition to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, opening up some opptunities for those who don’t primarily play games on PC to try their hand at blazing their own industrial trail.

While Anno 1800 does boast a historical setting overall, updates like the recent Empire of the Skies DLC have introduced more fantastical aspects like Airships, so there’s a little something for everyone here.

This all comes as a number of Anno games are celebrating anniversaries, including Anno 1503, which is turning 20 years old. That may seem hard to believe, especially for folks who have been sticking with the series since the beginning, but it’s officially one of the old guard at this point. Beyond Anno 1800 Console Edition, it looks like the future is bright for the most recent entry, as well. Following the April 2022 release of the Seeds of Change DLC and the summer 2022 release of the Empire of the Skies DLC, New World Rising should be out around the time this issue is in your hands. It’s all part of DLC Season 4, which is available in a Season Pass sold separately along with other seasons that you can still dive into at any time.

As long as everything goes according to plan during the technical tests, we should be carrying these tactics over to consoles in the not-too-distant future, so we’ll see you there!

Genre: Strategy
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series
Publisher: Ubisoft
Available: TBD

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