I am excited to try out the full version of Anno 1800. Having previewed it back in January, it was apparent that Ubisoft’s civilisation simulator had received improvements and additions that elevated it above its franchise predecessors. Up to this point, pre-orders have been open on both Uplay and Steam.
Now that’s changing. On Friday, the game’s publisher announced that following exclusive launches with Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 and Metro Exodus, Anno 1800 would be made available on the Epic Games Store at launch on April 16:
Following the successful launch of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on PC on the Ubisoft Store and the Epic Games store, we are announcing today that we are partnering with Epic Games on Anno 1800 as well.
In order to avoid the last-minute debacle that happened with Metro Exodus, Ubisoft has made effort to ensure that any concerns from gamers are attended to. Players who have pre-ordered the game on Steam will retain it in their library, and will have access to all the content and any future game updates. Cross-platform gameplay will be supported so Steam players aren’t left alone by themselves, thanks to Uplay serving as the convergence point for both it and the Epic store.
Steam has begun notifying its users of the announcement, with Anno 1800’s page stating that:
The publisher has assured us that all prior sales of the game on Steam will be fulfilled on Steam, and Steam owners will be able to access the game and any future updates or DLC through Steam.
We apologize to Steam customers that were expecting it to be available for sale after the April 16th release date.
The announcement comes after Epic revealed at the 2019 Game Developers Conference that thanks to an extended deal with Ubisoft, their store front would benefit from several other exclusive launches, including The Outer Worlds, as well as other titles such as Detroit: Become Human and The Sinking City.
Anno 1800 officially launches on April 16, and fans looking to get an early sneak peek will have a chance to play the Open Beta from April 12 to 14. The beta can be downloaded from either Uplay or the Epic Games Store.
Last Updated: April 1, 2019
Pariah
April 1, 2019 at 15:56
More and more I’m having a reason to go through my backlog. I’m actually enjoying it
Captain JJ
April 1, 2019 at 16:10
This actually means nothing. Anno is still on Uplay and it’s still on Fanatical (and for cheaper than Epic), so why the hell would I use Epic? This is literally just Epic telling Steam “up yours”. Can’t say that I have any respect for Epic at this stage.
Link:
https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/anno-1800
G8crasha
April 1, 2019 at 16:32
Personally, I am too excited about this game to stress over how it will be distributed.
Captain JJ
April 2, 2019 at 06:58
Well you can buy it on Fanatical for $7 less and it activates on Uplay. No need for bloatware at all. So it being on the Epic store shouldn’t make any difference if you’re not an idiot who doesn’t shop around first.
https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/anno-1800
G8crasha
April 2, 2019 at 12:07
True. I would buy elsewhere only if it were cheaper (as you pointed out), but not because I don’t like the service.
Captain JJ
April 2, 2019 at 14:02
I just prefer my personal info to stay private, so there’s no way I’ll use the Epic store.
Mitchell
April 1, 2019 at 17:37
Valve lowered their cut to 20% just for companies like Ubisoft, and it obviously wasn’t enough.
They need to improve their store: cut their commissions and improve the quality of games they allow on, by increasing their Steam Direct fee to $2,000.
Captain JJ
April 2, 2019 at 06:42
I agree with you 100% on the Steam Direct fee.