The game was developed by Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software (
http://www.sunflowers.de/ ) subsidiary, Max Design. Programming was by Albert
Lasser and Wilfried Reiter, animation and artwork by Ulli Koller and Martin
Lasser, music by Marcus Pitzer, and production by Juergen Reusswig. The game
was published variously by Bomico (first in Germany), Infogrames, GT
Interactive Software, Infogrames again, and Electronic Arts. It sold more than
1.7 million copies worldwide. Albert Lasser and Wilfried Reiter originally
wrote "1869", a 1992 DOS/Amiga game set in a similar historic period, but with
more emphasis on a trading from a single ship. Anno 1602 has a sequel, Anno
1503/1503 AD, released in 2002/2003.

Anno 1602 was first released as a German title in 1997. In 1998 Anno 1602 was
released in Europe and Japan, with versions in English (United Kingdom),
French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Japanese. This second release is
sometimes referred to as the 'International' edition.

An expansion set "Neue Inseln, Neue Abenteuer" (NINA - New Islands, New
Adventures) was released for the German version in the same year. Shark_Dus
lists NINA's features as: "Map editor, Watermill, Option to release unused
military, Option to sink unused ships, Subdirectory 'own scenarios',
Additional videos, Additional music, Extended limit of 33 ships, Extended
limit of production facilities (in total and per island), A frame showing the
current screen on the survey map [this appears in some of the International
versions too], Warehouse/market opens with a double click, More activity on
the ocean (whales, dolphins, octopus), More activity on the streets (children
running, a gambler in front of every market), Volcano eruptions from time to
time, Better AI, 20 additional scenarios in 6 campaigns, 7 new singleplayer
scenarios, 30 additional multiplayer-scenarios."

In 2000 the game was released in North America and Australia as "1602 A.D.", a
version that included the original game, expansion and patches. An
'International' (primarily United Kingdom and Dutch) "Anno 1602 - Gold
Edition" was released in 2000/2001, which similarly contained the expansion
and patches. This version almost wasn't produced at all (Infogrames rather
lost interest...), and it was not widely distributed.

From Shark_Dus: "[Germany] also had an additional mission pack, 9 months
later, 'In the name of the king' ('Im Namen des Konigs') from a different
publisher (but authorized by Sunflowers): 27 scenarios in 6 additional
campaigns, 8 single-player scenarios, 5 multi-player scenarios." The final
German version was the Konigsedition (Kings Edition), released in 1999. It
included the original game, *both* expansions, and patches.

The only Sunflowers expansion is NINA (Neue Inseln, Neue Abenteuer/New
Islands, New Adventures), which is included within 1602 A.D. and Gold/Kings
editions by default. NINA was only released as a stand-alone expansion in
German. A second expansion, Im Namen des Konigs (In the name of the king), was
also released only in German, and is also included in the Konigsedition.
Unofficial addons have appeared, including "Pirate's Isle" and "A.D. - The
Conquest Continues". Various custom scenarios are also available for download
and use by those with NINA based versions.