Collection: Publisher: Sunflowers

Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software was a German videogame publisher best known for nurturing deep, simulation-heavy PC titles that defined European strategy gaming throughout the late ’90s and 2000s. 🌻 They focused on high-quality real-time strategy, city-building, and historical management games, often collaborating with developers like Max Design. Their catalog includes influential PC titles such as:

• Anno 1602 (1998)

• Anno 1503 (2002)

• Anno 1701 (2006)

• Knights of Honor (2004)

• ParaWorld (2006)

Sunflowers first gained international recognition with the Anno series, a city-building and economic simulation franchise that became one of the most successful PC strategy brands in Europe. The combination of historic settings, complex trade systems, and charming aesthetic helped define the “German strategy game” identity. Sunflowers published the early core installments and handled global distribution, contributing heavily to the series’ worldwide fanbase. 🏛️⚓

Another major success came from Knights of Honor, a grand-strategy/RTS hybrid developed by Black Sea Studios. Sunflowers’ publishing support enabled the title to reach a broad European audience, and the game became beloved for its blend of medieval empire management and accessible real-time combat. It remains a cult classic with fans of historical strategy games. ⚔️👑

Sunflowers also backed ambitious and experimental strategy titles. ParaWorld, for example, mixed dinosaurs, alternate history, and RTS gameplay, giving the studio a unique place in mid-2000s PC gaming. Though Sunflowers eventually faded from the spotlight and was later absorbed into Ubisoft during the Anno series transition, their legacy endures through the long-running Anno franchise and their influence on European PC strategy design. 🌍🎮