On Monday evening, Ubisoft and developer Blue Byte Mainz officially presented the next Anno: Anno 117: Pax Romana offers Roman building strategy and will be released next year. In-game scenes or even gameplay have not yet been shown. But now a briefly published screenshot has surfaced.
A leaked screenshot of Anno 177
The screenshot in question was briefly visible on the Anno Union website today and was then mirrored on Imgur, among other things, in a resolution and quality that was not particularly good. The images are no longer available. This naturally gives rise to the suspicion that developer Blue Byte accidentally released a first in-game view to the public. However, the screenshot must be preceded by the following four restrictions:
- It cannot be ruled out and it is quite possible that the screenshot with the “Anno 117: The Forge of Rome” logo shows an outdated development version that is not representative of the finished game in terms of content and technology. After all, the next title in the Anno series was presented on Monday under a different name.
- It is also possible that it is simply a marketing montage of individual buildings and assets that have been combined to create a cityscape that cannot be reproduced in the game. That would not be unusual for Ubisoft; Anno 1800 also occasionally advertised non-replicable montages.
- If it is actually an authentic screenshot that reflects the current state of development at Blue Byte Mainz, then it is that one – but still not a finished version of Anno 117. So even in this case, the informative value remains limited.
- In the modern marketing environment, it cannot be completely ruled out that Ubisoft or Blue Byte leaked the screenshot on purpose in order to keep the new game on everyone’s lips until the first Anno 117 livestream on June 18th and to arouse further interest.
Building at a 45-degree angle?
After this insert, let’s now move on to the screenshot and undoubtedly the elephant in the room: It shows a Roman port settlement with diagonal paths and also some diagonally arranged buildings.
This is a turning point in the Anno series, which has so far relied strictly on checkerboard patterns when it comes to building. If the screenshot is assumed to be authentic, this would not mean a complete departure from the rigid building system to a free system for Anno 117, but would mean eight instead of just four possible orientations.
Apart from that, the screenshot shows a generally familiar Anno view: residential buildings of various levels are placed around an apparent city center with cultural facilities. In the foreground you can see a harbor with an office and presumably three fishermen’s huts or similar businesses, while in the background you can see an aqueduct and in the middle an amphitheater. What also catches the eye in the upper left part of the image is a presumed moor, which apparently brings a second landscape image to one and the same island.
Livestream on June 18
Ubisoft and Blue Byte will officially reveal more about the new Roman Anno on June 18th. A livestream on Twitch has been announced for 5:00 p.m., in which the developers will talk about their vision for the construction game and the first teaser trailer. However, there will be no gameplay to see yet. What is already certain is that Anno 117: Pax Romana will once again be developed in consultation with the community after the great success of Anno 1800.