Anno 1800: New Horizons is finally out after years of development and delivers free content on par with DLC.

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After five years in development, the huge mod is finally finished and brings a Far East-inspired region with fresh mechanics to the game.

Anno 1800 has been letting you experience and steer the trials and tribulations of the industrial age since 2019. So far, you’ve mainly explored and built up regions with a European, South American, and African feel, but now you can set sail for the Far East.

The fan mod New Horizons not only brings beautiful landscapes and decorative elements to the game, but also a wealth of content that easily rivals official DLCs – and all without asking you to pay a penny.

On to new horizons

This mammoth project was created by well-known Anno modders Taubenangriff, jje1000, and Hier0nimus, among others, and spent a full five years in the mod forge.

While the main game has so far let you roam around Europe and the “New World” of South America, official DLCs have added the Arctic and the African-inspired Enbesa. Of course, Asian influences are still missing, and that’s where the fan mod comes in.

New Horizons introduces the new Horai region, which is inspired by China and Japan. Here, too, there are two population levels, the Nóngmín and Gōngrén, who go about their daily work in corresponding residential and production buildings, producing and consuming new goods such as porcelain, tea, and sake.

Of course, different natural resources grow in this area than in the familiar regions, and you’ll have to adjust to new local weather conditions such as monsoon rains. These can bring your entire agriculture to a standstill, so you should be well prepared.

In addition, completely new NPCs will accompany you on your travels. Particularly cool: These NPCs are not silent, but animated and voiced. Existing characters from previous Anno games have been taken over and adapted for the mod.

If you’re interested and want to try it out for yourself, you can download the expansion for free at Mod.io There you’ll find installation instructions and recommended mods that support New Horizons and integrate seamlessly into Anno 1800. A German translation is also available.

Anno 1800: New Horizons wasn’t always a group project. Taubenangriff spent the first two years working on the 3D art by himself. jje1000 and Hier0nimus joined the team for the reworking and programming. Over time, more and more people got involved in the project, so that in the end there were about 15 volunteers working on it.