Anno 117: Pax Romana will be set in Italy and Britain, include more than city-building

Sounds like a gameplay shake-up

Ubisoft

After a trip into the Victorian Age with Anno 1800, which is widely regarded as the best entry into the iconic city-builder series yet, Ubisoft is taking the franchise to the place every road eventually leads towards: Rome.

Anno 117: Pax Romana is the furthest the Anno series has gone back in time, but it’s a fantastic setting for the game. In 117, the Roman Empire reached its largest extent with Trajan, who was the emperor at the time, leading a magnificent campaign against the Parthians in the east. This means that Ubisoft will be able to access the greatest possible pool of regions for expansions in the future – from Portugal in the west to the shores of the Persian Gulf in the east, from Britain in the north to Egypt in the south. The Romans traded plenty with India and China, so things could really get exotic.

Britain has already been confirmed as one of the two regions players can settle when the base game comes out sometime in 2025. Italy will be the other area players can establish towns in. Granted, those two areas sound relatively basic, but that’s what makes them a great choice to start with, giving players plenty of opportunities to learn the ropes.

What’s interesting about Anno 117: Pax Romana is that the official descriptions make it sound like there’s a lot more to explore than just the city-building and resource management the series is known for.

“Anno 117: Pax Romana features a unique mix of traditional city building, a deep economical simulation and 4X features like diplomacy, military and a solid narrative layer,” the game’s official website states. “It follows the series’ tradition by merging the creation of huge metropolises with the setup of complex logistic networks and production chains, as well as the exploration of the world and the interaction with other characters and competitors.”

Previous attempts to integrate a military layer into Anno haven’t been met with massive success and the entries focusing on pure economy management are generally regarded as much better than those splitting their attention. Of course, militarism and expansion are so ingrained into the culture of Rome that it’s certainly more authentic to include these elements.

Anno’s creative director, Manuel Reinher, certainly sounds ambitious when it comes to the title’s goals: “We will not only deliver the fantasy millions of strategy players are waiting for: to govern one of the most iconic ancient empires, we will push beyond that, and change how people see the Roman Empire in games. Explore different provinces and embrace the local or Roman way. The cost of peace is yours to decide.”

Anno 117: Pax Romana is set to become available in 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.