In April 2019, developer Blue Byte and publisher Ubisoft launched Anno 1800. It was the latest PC game in the historical city builder game series, and it continues to be supported with new updates and DLC content.
This month, Ubisoft revealed that the game would be adding something unexpected: official support for third-party mods. In a blog post last week (via PC Gamer), the publisher revealed its been working with the team at mod.io, which has worked with over 100 other games to add PC mod support, including titles like Dying Light 2, Deep Rock Galactic, and more.
Mod.io will actually be hosting the mods for Anno 1800, and the game will get an update on August 22 that will include an integrated mod browser. Ubisoft stated:
The mod browser for Anno 1800 on PC will allow you to browse through all available mods directly within the game itself or in a web browser via the mod.io website. You can then subscribe to any mods you like, prompting an automatic download and install. The already integrated mod loader will make sure the mods are recognised by the game and activated.
More information on the new Anno 1800 mod support can be found on the game"s official website. Mod.io has already posted the Anno 1800 mod web browser version so players can check out the mods ahead of the official launch. In addition to adding mod support to a game that"s over four years old, this will be the first game in the 25 year history of the Anno series to add this kind of support.
Earlier this week Rockstar Games acquired the Cfx.re mod team, which have made roleplay mods and servers for Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. While unofficial mods for games have been around since the original Doom, adding official mod support to games is still somewhat uncommon in the industry. It"s encouraging that major publishers like Ubisoft and Rockstar are starting to embrace the mod community more.