Ubisoft’s long-running city-building series is heading into ancient times with Anno 117: Pax Romana, the next major entry in the franchise. Set during the height of the Roman Empire, players will take on the role of a governor tasked with shaping and managing provinces across one of history’s most influential civilizations.
Unlike previous installments that leaned heavily into maritime trade and exploration, Anno 117 focuses on the political, cultural, and social dynamics of Rome’s sprawling territories. With players focusing on political, cultural, and social dynamics while expanding the Roman empire.
During Gamescom we got the chance to chat with Jan Dungel, the Game Director of Pax Romana who spoke in length about some of the finer details and what we as players can expect. He began by describing how year 177 actually was the peak of the Empire, its Golden Age so to speak and there was relative peace.
“So it’s actually the year 117, and that’s the peak of the Roman Empire. The Golden Age, when the Empire was the largest. It was at relative peace, so it’s perfect for our resource management and so on. Yeah, so that’s the setting”
Dungel went on to describe how this particular setting was one of the most requested things from Anno-fans, a more social and intrigue-focused game that relied less on combat. Dungel also mentioned that the first region will be Albion, inspired by old Britannia and that they will focus on bringing Egypt into the fold post-launch. He said:
“The very first region we are actually introducing in the main game, or in the release, is the region of Albion, which is inspired by Britannia. So it’s a very northern Celtic region with a different population, very different climate. But also, as you might know already, we said what we want to do in post-launch, and we said that in the first year we want to also do Egypt”
In regards to combat – it will still be a part of the game. Both on land and water, but it will be one of many different ways of gaining power according to Dungel. But it is usually the last resort when all else fail and the people cannot be subjugated through adaption
“There are many ways to adapt the land and adapt the people, but sometimes it will turn into conflict, you cannot avoid it, especially not in this stage of history. So we will have combat in the game, because in this setting of Rome, it was very clear that we need to deliver this fantasy of marching legions, and so we will naval combat with the ships, but also land combat with the military units.”
Promising a mix of classic Anno mechanics with fresh twists inspired by Roman history, Pax Romana is set to launch later this year and you can watch the entire interview here below.