Anno 1701

Anno 1701, like the previous Anno games, is a game based mainly on the economics of the settlement created by the player.

There are two main game modes in Anno 1701: continuous play, representing an open-ended session, and ten scenarios with certain tasks, which gradually increase in level of difficulty. The continuous play offers free customization options for the start of the game. Similar to Civilization series, the players can decide on the size of the world in advance, determine the island types and toggle the advanced options such as "Disasters", "Plague", "Pirates", "Fire", and others. All twelve computer controlled opponents have their own personalities, preferences and difficulty levels.

In December 2003, a spin-off of the Anno franchise was announced under the title of Anno War. Unlike previous entries in the series, it was developed by Mainz-based Related Designs, and the idea was to make the game more combat based. The team increased their number of employees from 10 to 25, with an active support from Sunflowers Interactive. The game was put on hold. Related Designs instead focused their efforts on a sequel to Anno 1503.

The new installment was initially codenamed Anno 3. Due to a dispute between Sunflowers and the developer of the first Anno games, Max Design, Related Designs was not able to access the program code for Anno 1503, and thus had no technical basis. Therefore, the studio had to develop the new title from scratch. During the development, Anno's creator and one of the Max Design's founders, Wilfried Reiter, joined the team in an advisory capacity.

Anno 1701 received "generally favorable reviews" according to the aggregate review site Metacritic.

As Anno 1602 and Anno 1503 had been commercial hits, together totaling 4.5 million units sold worldwide, pre-release sales estimates for Anno 1701 were high. Retailers purchased 450,000 units in Germany in preparation for the game's launch; worldwide pre-orders from stores reached roughly 1 million copies. According to Der Spiegel, the game and its predecessors were aimed at mainstream casual players who "buy a game once a year and spend weeks with it", a goal reflected in the new title's pre-release television advertising. Publisher Sunflowers Interactive noted a high percentage of female players among the Anno series' fanbase, and they were a target demographic for Anno 1701.