**WARNING TO ANYONE PLAYING ON A MACHINE USED BY MULTIPLE PEOPLE**
If you switch between multiple steam accounts on your PC, make sure the correct **Ubisoft** account is logged in before attempting to start this game! Otherwise you risk the game being registered to the "wrong" account and being prevented from playing permanently. Details below.

---

**DON'T BUY!**

The terrible Ubisoft account system and launcher make, what would otherwise be a fantastic and unique game, utterly unplayable. Not just because the Ubisoft launcher is intrusive and inconvenient, but because in many cases it prevents playing the game at all. It's also very over-priced for a game this age (and with these problems), and the DLC is aggressively pushed and also over-priced, further marring the game.

---

I already owned the game, and wanted to buy it for the wife. Before buying, I wanted to check that it played OK on her PC. To do this, I switched to my Steam account on her PC, and spun up Anno. In addition to my Steam login, this requires logging into the aforementioned painful Ubisoft launcher with my account.
We played for an hour or so, still on my account, and it all looked fine, so we then proceeded to buy the game. Not cheap for a game that's been out so long, but it seemed like a good match for us, so we took a chance.

This is where the trap closed. We switched back to my wife's account, and bought a copy of the game via Steam. All looked well, and she booted up the game to play solo for the evening. The next day, we wanted to try multiplayer, but when we did, we discovered that I was unable to start the game. While we had switched to my wife's Steam account, this doesn't switch the ubisoft account on the launcher. There's no indication when the game starts of the Ubisoft account being used, so there was no way for us to notice.
As a result, Ubisoft thought she was playing my copy of the game, and prevented me playing on my machine as a result. One might hope the solution was to simply switch to my wifes ubisoft account on her machine. Annoyingly, this was not the case.

What happens, is that when you first launch the game in Steam, it automatically binds the game on that steam account, to the Ubisoft account logged in. There's no confirmation dialogue or warning this is going to happen. In our case, this meant that when my wife opened the game on her Steam account for the first time, Ubisoft registered her new copy of the game, and DLC against my account, despite the fact I already had that game on my account. So when my wife used her ubisoft account, it also refused to let her play since the game on her account had then been half-registered to my account.

I'd say this behaviour is pretty terrible, even if there had been a dialogue asking us to confirm we wanted to register the game to that Ubisoft account, but at least that would have offered us a chance to prevent this happening. Having no warning at all is absolutely terrible.

We contacted Ubisoft support in hope they could resolve the issue. They took two weeks of back and forth, us having to repeatedly explain the issue to their support staff, only to tell us that they knew it was an issue but could do nothing to resolve it. They just told us to request refund on Steam.
An additional complication was that, since on that first evening, my wife was able to play the game for a few hours on **her** Steam account but **my** Ubisoft account, it meant she had technically played the game beyond the normal refund window, and we were also delayed requesting refund due to Ubisoft support. This made the refund via Steam more complicated, but it was finally granted.

Ubisoft suggested we just repurchase after arranging the refund on Steam. The price of the game has since doubled (we purchased during a sale), and frankly I'm disinclined to risk another fiasco. It's a great shame though, because once you get past Ubisoft's nonsense, the game is fantastic and unlike any other strategy game out there.

You may think that our woes were due to our unfortunate circumstances switching between accounts, but it seems many other reviews here discuss similar issues where the game fails to register on Ubisoft accounts, or people are otherwise prevented from playing due to Ubisoft account issues.

As always, DRM and greed mean that playing a pirated copy of this game is a more reliable, customer friendly experience, compared to buying the game legally. A company of Ubisoft's size (ignoring their terrible reputation), should really do better.

If you love city-builders, Anno 1800 is an absolute must-play. The production chains are seriously addictive—starting with simple farms and slowly building up to massive factories feels super rewarding. Every little part of your economy connects in a way that makes expansion feel natural and satisfying.

The DLCs make the game even better. The New World expansions add so much depth, turning it into more than just an early-game resource hub. And Enbesa? The irrigation system and unique culture make it one of the most interesting regions in the game. If you enjoy deep strategy and watching your cities grow into industrial powerhouses, this game will hook you for hours.

This game is fun to play and has delicate economy management game play. To play this requires Ubisoft Connect- Ubisoft Connect does NOT HAVE A WORKING OFFLINE MODE. There are buttons to start the service in 'offline mode' and they do not do anything.

Read reviews before buying DLC- the Eldritch and Steampunk DLC are purely cosmetic and include NO CHANGES TO GAMEPLAY. Other DLC are confusingly described- such that you might think AirShips or skyscrapers are added to gameplay, etc. Read reviews first.

Multiplayer saving is a DISASTER. Constantly blowing time that I can never get back. Would not recommend until they fix this if they ever do.

DO NOT BUY. Constant errors that are unexplainable. I'm spending half the time on reddit trying to figure out how to fix this dumb game that should just work considering the money they're charging. Multiplayer does not work more than once and there is no current solution. The number of issues you'll see on reddit are staggering.

Further, the game forces you to download a ubisoft launcher which is completely unnecessary and duplicative. They're just harvesting your data and observing your computer activity and you must provide this in order to just play the game. This is a deceptive dark pattern. Here;s the folks they share your information with:
We may share your Data with:

Ubisoft subsidiaries involved in the administration of the Services (Ketchapp, Green Panda Games, Kolibri Games, ...). You can find more information about the group on our dedicated website: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/company/overview.aspx
The technical service providers involved in the supply of the Services (for example, product delivery, promotion of the Services, to act against inappropriate conduct, cheating and toxic behaviour). As subcontractors, these service providers are under the same obligations as Ubisoft to comply with applicable personal data protection laws.
The partners who use your Data to provide you with personalised advertisements or Personalized Content.
To consult a list of Ubisoft’s partners, please see the Cookies page.
To opt out of the sharing of your Data, please Section 6 “What are your rights and how do you exercise your rights”, then to the paragraph “Give and withdraw your consent”.
Other companies, only in the event of transfer of Ubisoft’s activities.
Administrative or judicial authorities, to verify the proper use of the Data by Ubisoft or for the purposes of an investigation, in compliance with applicable law. Ubisoft always verifies the legitimacy of the request.
In such cases, your Data may be transferred to countries located outside of the European Union who provide an equivalent level of protection. In the event of transfer to other countries, the protection of your Data is especially ensured by the signature of standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission.

Ubisoft connect. Yesterday I played the game all fine, today i can't connect because "it is liked to a different Ubisoft Connect account". I haven't played any Ubisoft game in between, and i don't own another Ubisoft account. What happened, how an I play again the game I payed for, it was all working good just yesterday ?? I did a ticket, but what can I say "Hey Ubisoft, apparently the game is linked to an another account that i don't own, i dont have the password, i dont have the email, because there never has been another account." I have the bill proof and my Steam ID but i know this won't be enough.

I recommand Anno 1800 for the little time i got to play before Ubisoft Connect ruined it all. Don't spend your money for this, there are other great city building games waiting for you out there, and that you will actually be able to connect to more than once.

it is a really good game for citybuilding

I think it is absurd to force a person who buys this and all the DLC to make an account through some stupid outside source just to play. IT WAS NOT mentioned anywhere in the description nor anywhere that it is required to have an Ubisoft account. DO NOT BUY it. Sadly this game does look fun.

After 30h I can say that this game is not worth it, it has potential but in one point it becomes boring and all the time it says "DEFEAT" has no sense and is frustating.

Save yourself the hassle and don't buy it on steam..
Authentication Error, can never play again and they wont refund.
Just buy it off Ubisoft.

Done 343hrs on steam now just wont play says linked to different account, brought lots of DLCs and now i cant launch it, have tried to find a solution but just goes round and round I see lots of other players with the same issue did anyone get it sorted