Anno 1602 History Edition

1998 Ubisoft Mainz Strategy

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxGold

Steam DeckPlayable

Gamicality score

Metacritic Not rated

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 691

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today3.5/5

Design today2.5/5

Steam user reviews

Mostly Positive

74%

139 reviews1

Get it on Steam Watch the trailer

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Anno 1602 History Edition run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxGold

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Gold, runs perfectly after tweaks.3

Steam DeckPlayable

Playable, as rated by Valve. May need some setup.1

Played Anno 1602 History Edition lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Anno 1602 History Edition running today

If the game gets stuck in an unusable display mode after changing screen settings, press Alt+Enter at launch to switch to windowed mode (Steam Community).
Edge scrolling only works in fullscreen mode; in windowed mode, drag with the right mouse button to move the map (Steam Community).

Synopsis

A remaster of the 1998 colony builder Anno 1602 and its New Islands, New Adventures expansion. Players sail to uncharted islands, found settlements, build production chains to keep settlers supplied, trade, and defend or expand their holdings in scenarios or an open-ended endless game.

Developer: Ubisoft Mainz
Released: 1998
Best version: The History Edition is the version sold today and adds 4K support, UI scaling and right-click controls, at the cost of a required Ubisoft account.
Genre: Strategy
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

GameStar's 2020 review scored it 70, welcoming the mouse-wheel zoom and right-click controls but finding the game aged, with too few zoom levels, a confusing click-heavy interface, little feedback from settlers and rigid missions. Steam players rate it Mostly Positive overall. Most negative reviews target the mandatory Ubisoft Connect login, which blocks offline play and stops the game from starting for some buyers, and some note that the scaled interface becomes tiny or glitchy at high resolutions.

Trailer from Steam

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

3.5/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
All of its content still works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
The base game and its New Islands, New Adventures expansion are included, though multiplayer with the original edition is not possible (PCGamingWiki).
Supports modern resolutions and widescreen
Widescreen, ultrawide and 4K resolutions are supported with a scalable interface (PCGamingWiki).
?Not confirmed yetFull controller support or remappable controls
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
Steam Deck Verified or Playable
Intrusive DRM or a required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
Many Steam reviews from 2024 and 2025 report that the required Ubisoft Connect launcher fails to start the game or will not let it run offline (Steam Community, Steam Community).

Design today

2.5/5

Controls feel natural on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
An optional modern scheme moves navigation and ship orders to the right mouse button, the mouse wheel zooms, and keys can be remapped. There is no controller support. Source: anno-union.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The interface has three scale settings, but at 4K it stays small and scaling causes graphical glitches, while the menus are confusing and need many more clicks than modern Anno games. Source: gamestar.de, steamcommunity.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Games save to local files with Ubisoft Connect cloud sync, and save files from the original 1998 release load in this edition. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
Settlers and rivals give little feedback about what the colony lacks, the menu structure is hard to learn, and much that the original printed manual explained is not taught in the game. Source: gamestar.de, steamcommunity.com.
Pacing drags: grind, filler or forced backtracking
Missions are rigid, and roads must be laid piece by piece with no build preview, which at high resolutions, where roads look smaller than the cursor, makes planning slow and tedious. Source: gamestar.de, steamcommunity.com.
Camera or movement fights the player
Only three zoom levels exist and the closest one is still far away at high resolutions, and edge scrolling does not work in windowed mode. Source: gamestar.de, steamcommunity.com.