Anno 2070
Anno 2070 is a city-building and economic simulation game, with real-time strategy elements. It is the 5th game of the "Anno" series. It was released on 17 November 2011, and was co-developed by the German studios Related Designs and Blue Byte, and published by Ubisoft. "Anno 2070" required Uplay to operate as an always online DRM System, later removed for receiving severe criticism from players. Plot. The scenario is set in the year 2070. Global warming has melted the Arctic ice cap, which has raised the global sea level so that the coasts were flooded . As a result, many old cities have vanished under the ocean, and much of what was once highland has been turned into chains of new islands. Responsibility for settling and exploiting these new frontiers is given to a select group of people, who captain mobile ocean-going bases known as Arks. The game has three factions: The Eden Initiative (referred to as the "Ecos"), Global Trust (referred to as the "Tycoons"), and the S.A.A.T. (referred to as the "Techs"). Ecos are environmental and build sustainable cities, but are inefficient and slow to expand. Tycoons are industrious and expand quickly, but  have problems with pollution and dwindling resources. The Tech is a support faction available to the other two, and they are useful in researching the latest and most powerful technologies. The Techs are only available later in the game when 10,000 credits are donated to their cause. Gameplay. In "Anno 2070", politics are no longer defined by countries, boundaries, religions, races, etc., but how humans choose to produce energy. All humankind rally under one global government where the three main factions of the game control the world's decisions. Players can also vote for a World President and vote in  Senate Council. Participation will give different effects to all players, depending on who is president or what bill was passed, until the next cycle of voting begins. For example, voting for the Tycoons' CEO Skylar Banes will increase productivity of manufacturing buildings. Players can also gain achievement and rewards from just playing the game. Players can customize their Ark to fit personal preference, which is only for aesthetics, as well as gaining special rewards that affect gameplay. Resources and technology upgrades can be carried on Arks, and be used in another game in "Continuous Mode". Events. The gameplay includes "World  Events"; special missions offered only for a limited time, allowing all players to band together and complete the missions. Completing missions will reward players depending on how many people participate. There are also "Current Events", where a player can complete a particular quest for one of the three factions to gain rewards. Current Events change daily, unlike World Events, which can be around for several months. Development. Digital rights management. The game was protected by Tagès SolidShield with a 3 machine activation limit and always needed to be connected to the Internet while playing the game. Changing hardware could use  up one activation. After the last activation was used, 1 was regained every 30 days. This generated wide criticism as legitimate players faced different problems with such online only systems. In 2012, Ubisoft decided to release a universal patch removing the online only DRM from several games including "Anno 2070". The SolidShield DRM with its activation limit was entirely removed on July 8, 2020. Downloadable content. The first DLC packs were released on 13 February 2012: Three DLC packs were added on 26 March, these with a Tycoon theme in contrast to the previous Eco-themed DLCs: Three DLC packs  were added with the new World Event The Nordamark Conflict: Expansion. In October 2012, Ubisoft published an expansion to the game called "Deep Ocean", which adds a new civilization level for the tech faction and new resources and products to satisfy that faction's new needs. It also offers a new energy source, the geothermal power plant, which may cause a new natural disaster: a tsunami. Five new campaign missions introduce these new features. It also adds many new factors to the game, which completely changes the way the game is played, most notably when playing with the Tech Faction . Players who don't have the "Deep Ocean" expansion cannot play a multiplayer game with other players who do have the expansion unless the expansion is deactivated. Reception. Critical reception for "Anno 2070" has been positive since the game's release, with a majority of critics considering it a big step forward in the "Anno" series. Criticism of the game is heavily influenced by the requirement to be always online to access all game options. Without being online the player can still access an offline mode, but one can't edit their own profile information, and the player is  unable to update their Ark base, place cargo into it, or upgrade it with equipment. Early reception at the time of release was also negatively influenced by constant crashes, server issues, and critics pointed out that the game worked better on pirated versions instead of the official one with Ubisoft server access.