Anno 117: Pax Romana

Crafted with Care

After 25 years, 7 instalments and over 4 million loyal players, Anno had established its position as the top city-builder game. And yet, as one of Ubisofts most successful titles, it lacked a clear brand identity. With their highly anticipated release based in Ancient Rome, and their desire to diversify their audience, they needed a new design system that would transform their reputation as a niche strategy game to a premier world-building experience.

What immediately set it apart from its competitors was the care and attention put into the different worlds and characters. From the tools, to the materials of the world, to the resources at hand, every plot of land, every pixel was designed to emulate the reality of the time period.

But like many other games, the virtual world was an imitation of life, defined by being ‘realistic’. We therefore set ourselves a big challenge; what would it look like to create something that was actually real?

Ignoring the screen, we got back to what made Anno special; the craft. Inspired by the artistic expressions during the Roman times, we looked to create the brand identity as authentically close to the how it was made in the same period. Informed by research trips and historical records, we built every element using traditional methods.

Collaborating with Owen Phillips of Gate Foot Forge, a new symbol was forged as a representation of an ‘ambiguous tool’ used to build the foundations of civilisation. Our design was cast in iron and our learnings were brought back into the digital world. Our colour palette, was made from raw materials and food dye (as well as toxic materials - which got us banned from our offices!).

The typeface was influenced by Roman calligraphy, and our framing device reflective of the masonry work so often featured. And materials found within the land were embedded throughout the textural backdrop.

As part of the launch, we collaborated with Paul Akinrinlola at MethodFilms to create a narrative trailer to introduce the Anno community to the new philosophy and symbol of the brand.

Since launch, the refreshed identity has increased brand press coverage by 245% and capturing 8.7M organic views online. It has also seen a 106% increase in brand engagement compared to previous titles, and a 92% positive community sentiment at reveal. Ultimately, the new identity has been placed in the hands of the Anno players, giving them the opportunity to forge their own path and change the gaming industry forever.

A big thank you to Haye Anderson, Brand Director of Anno at Ubisoft Mainz, and her amazing team for believing in the vision of the new brand and contributing to its success.