Anno 1800, Blue Byte's Industrial Revolution city builder, is kicking open its doors for an open beta running from April 12 to April 14. That's just before the revised release date. Originally slated for this month, it was pushed back a few weeks for some additional fine tuning and polishing.
You won't need to sign up to play during the open beta. An open beta client will be available, and downloading that is all that's required for access. If you want to get some idea of what you'll be in for, check out Rick Lane's Anno 1800 preview, and the game's community team will also be playing on Twitch on February 8, 4pm GMT.
If you played during the closed beta, you'll also notice some things that weren't available before, though Blue Byte is only teasing that it's "new content", so it will have to remain a mystery for a wee while longer.
On the subject of the previous beta, Blue Byte has posted some responses to feedback, including game balance and performance. Hopefully the extra time will be enough to tackle the issues raised, because it otherwise sounds really promising. I'm a sucker for economic city builders, but the last couple of Annos haven't quite scratched the itch, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a return to form.
Anno 1800 is due out on April 16.
