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Sid Meier's Civilization VII Minimum and Recommended Mac & Linux Specs
MINIMUM: OS: Sequoia Processor: M1 8 Core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: M1 Storage: 25 GB available space RECCOMENDED: OS: Sequoia Processor: M2 Pro 10 Core Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: M2 Pro Storage: 25 GB available space
MINIMUM: OS: Ubuntu 22.04 Processor: Intel i5-4690 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD RX 580 Storage: 25 GB available space RECCOMENDED: OS: Ubuntu 24.04 Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD RX 6700 Storage: 25 GB available space
[ 2024-12-19 17:00:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
We've just updated the Steam page for Sid Meier's Civilization VII with minimum and recommended specs for Mac & Linux! Check out the requirements here to make sure your rig is ready for Civilization VII on February 11:
MAC SPECS
MINIMUM: OS: Sequoia Processor: M1 8 Core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: M1 Storage: 25 GB available space RECCOMENDED: OS: Sequoia Processor: M2 Pro 10 Core Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: M2 Pro Storage: 25 GB available space
LINUX SPECS
MINIMUM: OS: Ubuntu 22.04 Processor: Intel i5-4690 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD RX 580 Storage: 25 GB available space RECCOMENDED: OS: Ubuntu 24.04 Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD RX 6700 Storage: 25 GB available space
[ 2024-12-19 17:00:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Dev Diary #5: Combat
The way war is waged in Civilization has changed throughout the series' history. Originally, players could stack multiple units in a single map tile known by the community as "stacks of doom" and battles were fought by clashing these stacks together. After unit strengths were compared and a bit of random "dice rolls," a winner was determined and the result was often the defeat of an entire enemy army in one fell swoop. The release of Civilization V brought some big changes, including the switch from square tiles to hexagons and the introduction of a "one unit per tile" rule for combat. This added a new layer of depth to combat, shifting it away from the "stacks of doom" that dominated the battlefield toward a more tactical approach. Different types of units still had many of the strengths and weaknesses as before, but now battles were fought in a series of single unit vs. unit combats, spread throughout the map. Players could strategically place units based on movement and terrain, and take advantage of ranged attacks to soften up their enemies before moving in to engage in melee combat. This combat design continued in Civilization VI, but there were some side effects in switching to one-unit-per-tile. "Stacks of Doom" became replaced by "Carpet of Doom," where the map would often get congested with units, especially in the late game. This called for some slight design changes, like giving players the ability to join units together in a single hex, allowing for the safe escort of defenseless units like Settlers and Workers, or by joining combat units of the same type into a single stronger version of itself. Nevertheless, traffic jams would still occur and moving an army of units from one map location to another could be a cumbersome and time-consuming endeavor. So with Civilization VII, we aimed to introduce several new changes to the military and combat systems, improving on our previous designs and providing some new and interesting gameplay opportunities.
The most prominent change to Civ VII combat is the introduction of Commander units. These powerful military leaders have the unique ability to pack nearby units into a single "stack." Units stacked together with a Commander benefit from its movement bonus, allowing for faster relocation to where they're needed. Upon arrival, the Commander's army unpacks, deploying units to adjacent tiles, ready to attack enemy forces, lay siege to cities, or defend territory.
Commander units are distinct in that they are the only units capable of gaining experience and unlocking promotions. This marks a shift from previous Civ games, where individual combat units could earn promotions. Commanders gain experience primarily through battle involving nearby troops, and their promotions grant a variety of buffs and bonuses whether that's raising the combat strength of units within their Command Radius to gaining more Yields when stationed in a City's district. Just having a Commander unit on the battlefield gives you an edge in combat; having an experienced Commander lead your forces is essential for military-focused players. Commanders are even Ageless; throughout the game, they retain all experience and promotions earned in past Ages, ensuring their continued dominance on the battlefield. The range of promotions a Commander can earn is vast, encompassing multiple themed "discipline" trees. These allow players to spec their Commanders in different ways by deep-diving into a single tree or spreading their proficiency across multiple trees. There are unique types of Commander units for ground, naval, and aerial combat, each with a slightly different set of discipline trees. For Army Commanders on the ground, their discipline trees are:
In addition to making combat units more effective in battle, Commanders also have the ability to use special actions to order multiple units within a Command Radius at once. These include attack orders, which come with an additional combat bonus, as well as orders to heal, repair, or start digging fortifications. Similarly, you can use a packed army to overrun weaker units, negating the need to deploy and fight separately. Finally, Commanders streamline your ability to conduct military campaigns from a distance. Battles seldom come without casualties and players often find themselves needing to bring fresh units to a battle or particularly challenging siege. Shuffling replacement units to the frontline can take time and distract from the battle at hand, so we introduced the ability for Commanders to request Reinforcements, automating the process of bringing new units to their location to join the fray without requiring the player to manage each unit's movement individually. Altogether, Commanders add a new dynamic to combat and greatly reduce the amount of micromanagement needed from the player. We're looking forward to seeing how you utilize these powerful units in your campaigns to come!
In Civilization VII, Settlements now sprawl beyond the City center with the addition of Urban Districts (see Edward Zhang's Managing Your Empire Dev Diary). Thus, changes to our siege mechanics have been updated as well.
From a defensive perspective, players can fortify their Cities by constructing walls around their Urban Districts and building special military Buildings or Wonders. In order for an attacking force to take the Settlement, they need to conquer and control each of these tiles before taking the City center. On the flip side, destroying walled districts and occupying them will cede control of that District to you, depriving the defender of any yields or benefits. Because of these changes, the pace and difficulty of taking a Settlement varies greatly and adds a wrinkle of strategy in how you expand your empires. If you choose to build rapidly and not invest in any defense, you may find it difficult to maintain control of Settlements on the frontier of your civilization. If you want to take over a fortified Town or City, you'll likely need to build siege units who specialize in taking down walls. You'll even have to think about your Towns and Cities settled on Navigable Rivers; naval forces can sail inland and capture Settlements, if you don't defend them properly.
One of the characteristics of one-unit-per-tile combat is that battles happen one-at-a-time, with each unit attacking and defending in turn. Typically, this means that on your turn, you attack some enemy units often not resulting in outright destruction and when it's not your turn, the same thing happens to you. Visually, this was shown where the attacker moves forward to engage, performs a battle animation, and then returns to their original position. Watching multiple units do this in sequence can sometimes look comical, like a group of bad guys waiting their turn to attack the protagonist in a cheesy action movie. A game journalist once likened combat in 4X games to a hilarious Monty Python sketch, where a man prances forward, slaps another man in the face with a fish, and prances back. I couldn't help but laugh at the truth in that comparison, as it was something we had noticed as well. Still, it was a necessary presentation of the way we've so far handled combat in Civ games. It was around that same time that our Units team asked whether we needed to have the unit stop fighting and move back to their hex at all. What if, even though the combat was already resolved in the game, we just allow the units to continue fighting until one of the units is destroyed or the game turn ends? This quickly turned into one of those moments where function follows form and sparked a change in the way we handle combat flanking mechanics in the game. In past Civ games, we never introduced any sort of unit-facing mechanics that you often find in strategy wargames, meaning it didn't particularly matter what direction you attacked or were attacked from. Direction of attack matters if you want to simulate flanking, but we thought details like that were too fiddly for most Civ players, who already had to think about managing their empire on so many different scales. With the game's overall reduction in micromanagement and our desire to support the Units team's idea of continuous combat visuals, we felt comfortable in implementing proper flanking bonuses without requiring the player to designate a specific direction each turn. This means that you don't have to pick a direction before battle; engaging an enemy automatically locks the two units toward a front. And now that they have a front, you can attack from the sides and behind. Having continuous combat is a win/win for both the Unit team and for combat design in Civilization VII.
Part of the appeal of Civilization is that it's a game made up of many different systems, all working in concert to represent the epic scale of managing a historical civilization. When you work on Civilization, you quickly learn that if there are ten Civ players in the room, you get ten different opinions on which part of the game is the most fun. Every player is different, and not all players enjoy the military part of the game as much as others. As I mentioned earlier, combat has always been a necessary part of building and managing your empire. For game designers, our challenge is to create a combat experience that is both fun for players looking to dabble in skirmishes, while still offering enough depth and reward for those pursuing a full-scale military campaign. Finding that balance is always tricky, but we think we have something special with all of the new features, adjustments, and changes introduced in Civilization VII. We look forward to seeing what strategies and tactics you use to conquer the world, or successfully protect your empire so that it may stand the test of time!
[ 2024-12-18 17:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans, Sarah here! For our last Dev Diary of this year, we've got one that many of you have probably been waiting for a deep dive into combat! Authored by Senior Game Designer Brian Feldges, this Dev Diary will go over the history and role of combat in the Civilization franchise, talk about the impact being brought by our exciting new Commander military unit, and additional improvements being made for combat in Civilization VII.
==
Hello Civ community! My name is Brian Feldges. I have been working on the Civilization series in one form or another since I started at Firaxis back in 2006, but my first credit as a designer began when we started working on Civilization VI. I've always had an affinity for wargames so at the time I was more than excited to immerse myself in the military and combat gameplay systems for Civ VI. Today, I'm excited to share all of the changes, improvements, and new features coming to Civilization VII's combat, and also outline a bit of our general design philosophy.
Military conflict has always been a central component of the Civilization series and has remained as one of the main victory types since the series' inception. Even if you don't plan to conquer the world with your military might, a good army and an understanding of combat basics are important as you still need to be able to defend your civilization from rival powers and ambitious Independent Powers.
A Bit of History
The way war is waged in Civilization has changed throughout the series' history. Originally, players could stack multiple units in a single map tile known by the community as "stacks of doom" and battles were fought by clashing these stacks together. After unit strengths were compared and a bit of random "dice rolls," a winner was determined and the result was often the defeat of an entire enemy army in one fell swoop. The release of Civilization V brought some big changes, including the switch from square tiles to hexagons and the introduction of a "one unit per tile" rule for combat. This added a new layer of depth to combat, shifting it away from the "stacks of doom" that dominated the battlefield toward a more tactical approach. Different types of units still had many of the strengths and weaknesses as before, but now battles were fought in a series of single unit vs. unit combats, spread throughout the map. Players could strategically place units based on movement and terrain, and take advantage of ranged attacks to soften up their enemies before moving in to engage in melee combat. This combat design continued in Civilization VI, but there were some side effects in switching to one-unit-per-tile. "Stacks of Doom" became replaced by "Carpet of Doom," where the map would often get congested with units, especially in the late game. This called for some slight design changes, like giving players the ability to join units together in a single hex, allowing for the safe escort of defenseless units like Settlers and Workers, or by joining combat units of the same type into a single stronger version of itself. Nevertheless, traffic jams would still occur and moving an army of units from one map location to another could be a cumbersome and time-consuming endeavor. So with Civilization VII, we aimed to introduce several new changes to the military and combat systems, improving on our previous designs and providing some new and interesting gameplay opportunities.
Commanders
The most prominent change to Civ VII combat is the introduction of Commander units. These powerful military leaders have the unique ability to pack nearby units into a single "stack." Units stacked together with a Commander benefit from its movement bonus, allowing for faster relocation to where they're needed. Upon arrival, the Commander's army unpacks, deploying units to adjacent tiles, ready to attack enemy forces, lay siege to cities, or defend territory.
Commander units are distinct in that they are the only units capable of gaining experience and unlocking promotions. This marks a shift from previous Civ games, where individual combat units could earn promotions. Commanders gain experience primarily through battle involving nearby troops, and their promotions grant a variety of buffs and bonuses whether that's raising the combat strength of units within their Command Radius to gaining more Yields when stationed in a City's district. Just having a Commander unit on the battlefield gives you an edge in combat; having an experienced Commander lead your forces is essential for military-focused players. Commanders are even Ageless; throughout the game, they retain all experience and promotions earned in past Ages, ensuring their continued dominance on the battlefield. The range of promotions a Commander can earn is vast, encompassing multiple themed "discipline" trees. These allow players to spec their Commanders in different ways by deep-diving into a single tree or spreading their proficiency across multiple trees. There are unique types of Commander units for ground, naval, and aerial combat, each with a slightly different set of discipline trees. For Army Commanders on the ground, their discipline trees are:
- Bastion: Defensive bonuses, aimed at keeping your army healthy when attacked
- Assault: Offensive bonuses, designed to give you an edge when taking the initiative
- Logistics: Operation-focused bonuses, enabling you to increase the size of your army and more
- Maneuver: Bonuses that focus on movement, making it easier to navigate the map
- Leadership: Bonuses that focus on the Commander unit itself, reinforcing your impact on the battlefield
In addition to making combat units more effective in battle, Commanders also have the ability to use special actions to order multiple units within a Command Radius at once. These include attack orders, which come with an additional combat bonus, as well as orders to heal, repair, or start digging fortifications. Similarly, you can use a packed army to overrun weaker units, negating the need to deploy and fight separately. Finally, Commanders streamline your ability to conduct military campaigns from a distance. Battles seldom come without casualties and players often find themselves needing to bring fresh units to a battle or particularly challenging siege. Shuffling replacement units to the frontline can take time and distract from the battle at hand, so we introduced the ability for Commanders to request Reinforcements, automating the process of bringing new units to their location to join the fray without requiring the player to manage each unit's movement individually. Altogether, Commanders add a new dynamic to combat and greatly reduce the amount of micromanagement needed from the player. We're looking forward to seeing how you utilize these powerful units in your campaigns to come!
Siege Warfare
In Civilization VII, Settlements now sprawl beyond the City center with the addition of Urban Districts (see Edward Zhang's Managing Your Empire Dev Diary). Thus, changes to our siege mechanics have been updated as well.
From a defensive perspective, players can fortify their Cities by constructing walls around their Urban Districts and building special military Buildings or Wonders. In order for an attacking force to take the Settlement, they need to conquer and control each of these tiles before taking the City center. On the flip side, destroying walled districts and occupying them will cede control of that District to you, depriving the defender of any yields or benefits. Because of these changes, the pace and difficulty of taking a Settlement varies greatly and adds a wrinkle of strategy in how you expand your empires. If you choose to build rapidly and not invest in any defense, you may find it difficult to maintain control of Settlements on the frontier of your civilization. If you want to take over a fortified Town or City, you'll likely need to build siege units who specialize in taking down walls. You'll even have to think about your Towns and Cities settled on Navigable Rivers; naval forces can sail inland and capture Settlements, if you don't defend them properly.
Improved Visual Battlefields
One of the characteristics of one-unit-per-tile combat is that battles happen one-at-a-time, with each unit attacking and defending in turn. Typically, this means that on your turn, you attack some enemy units often not resulting in outright destruction and when it's not your turn, the same thing happens to you. Visually, this was shown where the attacker moves forward to engage, performs a battle animation, and then returns to their original position. Watching multiple units do this in sequence can sometimes look comical, like a group of bad guys waiting their turn to attack the protagonist in a cheesy action movie. A game journalist once likened combat in 4X games to a hilarious Monty Python sketch, where a man prances forward, slaps another man in the face with a fish, and prances back. I couldn't help but laugh at the truth in that comparison, as it was something we had noticed as well. Still, it was a necessary presentation of the way we've so far handled combat in Civ games. It was around that same time that our Units team asked whether we needed to have the unit stop fighting and move back to their hex at all. What if, even though the combat was already resolved in the game, we just allow the units to continue fighting until one of the units is destroyed or the game turn ends? This quickly turned into one of those moments where function follows form and sparked a change in the way we handle combat flanking mechanics in the game. In past Civ games, we never introduced any sort of unit-facing mechanics that you often find in strategy wargames, meaning it didn't particularly matter what direction you attacked or were attacked from. Direction of attack matters if you want to simulate flanking, but we thought details like that were too fiddly for most Civ players, who already had to think about managing their empire on so many different scales. With the game's overall reduction in micromanagement and our desire to support the Units team's idea of continuous combat visuals, we felt comfortable in implementing proper flanking bonuses without requiring the player to designate a specific direction each turn. This means that you don't have to pick a direction before battle; engaging an enemy automatically locks the two units toward a front. And now that they have a front, you can attack from the sides and behind. Having continuous combat is a win/win for both the Unit team and for combat design in Civilization VII.
Finding Balance
Part of the appeal of Civilization is that it's a game made up of many different systems, all working in concert to represent the epic scale of managing a historical civilization. When you work on Civilization, you quickly learn that if there are ten Civ players in the room, you get ten different opinions on which part of the game is the most fun. Every player is different, and not all players enjoy the military part of the game as much as others. As I mentioned earlier, combat has always been a necessary part of building and managing your empire. For game designers, our challenge is to create a combat experience that is both fun for players looking to dabble in skirmishes, while still offering enough depth and reward for those pursuing a full-scale military campaign. Finding that balance is always tricky, but we think we have something special with all of the new features, adjustments, and changes introduced in Civilization VII. We look forward to seeing what strategies and tactics you use to conquer the world, or successfully protect your empire so that it may stand the test of time!
[ 2024-12-18 17:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
This week in Civ: Mexico and TGAs
Weve just debuted a live, orchestral performance of the Civilization VII main theme, composed by the one and only Christopher Tin (the legend behind Baba Yetu, Sogno di Volare). Listen to the full theme on YouTube, or watch the live performance on stage here: [previewyoutube=jOF9v-W6kdc;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=6yontgyLLSo;full][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube=gV0waX2uPLg;full][/previewyoutube] During The Game Awards 2024, we were thrilled to unveil the "Rediscover Hope" Opening Cinematic Trailer for Civilization VII, showcasing the intro cinematic voiced by Civ VII narrator Gwendoline Christie. In the video above, you can watch the Opening Cinematic Trailer's inspirational story as it unfolds across the Ages.
Introducing the first Modern age civilization revealed, Mexico! Mexico is an absolute cultural powerhouse in the modern age that possesses a government choice unique to it, as well as some other advantages. Learn more about their abilities here in the latest game guide entry.
[ 2024-12-13 17:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
The Game Awards
Weve just debuted a live, orchestral performance of the Civilization VII main theme, composed by the one and only Christopher Tin (the legend behind Baba Yetu, Sogno di Volare). Listen to the full theme on YouTube, or watch the live performance on stage here: [previewyoutube=jOF9v-W6kdc;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=6yontgyLLSo;full][/previewyoutube]
Opening Cinematic Trailer
[previewyoutube=gV0waX2uPLg;full][/previewyoutube] During The Game Awards 2024, we were thrilled to unveil the "Rediscover Hope" Opening Cinematic Trailer for Civilization VII, showcasing the intro cinematic voiced by Civ VII narrator Gwendoline Christie. In the video above, you can watch the Opening Cinematic Trailer's inspirational story as it unfolds across the Ages.
Civ Reveal: Mexico
Introducing the first Modern age civilization revealed, Mexico! Mexico is an absolute cultural powerhouse in the modern age that possesses a government choice unique to it, as well as some other advantages. Learn more about their abilities here in the latest game guide entry.
Coming up
- Modern Age Livestream: That's right! Were showing off the Modern Age for the first time on December 17th at 1PM ET. Check out the full details here.
- Two new First Looks + new game guide for America
- New developer diary on combat, written by Senior Game Designer Brian Feldges.
[ 2024-12-13 17:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Opening Cinematic Trailer and new Main Theme "Live Gloriously"
[ 2024-12-13 02:06:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
[previewyoutube=gV0waX2uPLg;full][/previewyoutube] During The Game Awards 2024, we were thrilled to unveil the "Rediscover Hope" Opening Cinematic Trailer for Sid Meier's Civilization VII, showcasing the intro cinematic voiced by Civ VII narrator Gwendoline Christie. In the video above, you can watch the Opening Cinematic Trailer's inspirational story as it unfolds across the Ages. The "Rediscover Hope" Opening Cinematic Trailer also marks the debut of the Civilization VII Main Theme, entitled "Live Gloriously" and composed by Grammy Award-winning Christopher Tin, the same acclaimed composer behind the legendary "Baba Yetu" Civilization IV Main Theme and "Sogno di Volare" Civilization VI Main Theme. "With 'Live Gloriously,' I wanted to capture universal themes of hope, heroism, and mortality that have resonated across history," says Tin. "You'll hear words from The Iliad, Beowulf, Popol Vuh, and Ramayana, delivering a beautiful sense of gravity and emotion that embodies the story of humanity." [previewyoutube=6yontgyLLSo;full][/previewyoutube] During The Game Awards 10th Anniversary broadcast, "Live Gloriously" was performed live by The Game Awards Orchestra. You can rewatch this stirring performance in the video above, and listen to the "Live Gloriously" Civilization VII Main Theme in full with the official Original Soundtrack video below. During The Game Awards 10th Anniversary broadcast, "Live Gloriously" was performed live by The Game Awards Orchestra. Listen to the "Live Gloriously" Civilization VII Main Theme in full with the official Original Soundtrack video below. [previewyoutube=jOF9v-W6kdc;full][/previewyoutube] We can't wait for you to experience the opening cinematic firsthand and listen to the main theme time and again when you play Civilization VII for yourself. You can pre-order Civilization VII now ahead of its launch on February 11, 2025. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/Sid_Meiers_Civilization_VII/
[ 2024-12-13 02:06:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Developer Livestream: December 17 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET
[ 2024-12-10 18:00:48 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans, happy holidays! For the final Civ Streams developer livestream of 2024, we're showcasing the last of the three Ages in Sid Meier's Civilization VII: the Modern Age. We'll be deep-diving into live gameplay of Modern Age civilization America, plus the debut of two new leaders in Benjamin Franklin and someone we've saved as a surprise! Tune in on December 17 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT on the Firaxis Games Twitch Channel or Civilization YouTube Channel. Join us as we grow an empire through the Industrial Revolution, face burgeoning global conflicts, detail more game mechanics, and explore the Modern Age's unique set of Legacy Paths. This is also another chance to earn the Exploration Age cosmetic banner as a Twitch Drop*; check out the Civilization VII Twitch Drops page for full details. Well also be answering your questions live on stream, so tune in to leave your questions for our dev team, and well tackle as many as we can during the stream. Be sure to join us on December 17, then check out new updates to the official Civilization VII website after the livestream ends. See you there! *Requires an internet connection, a Twitch account, and a 2K Account linked to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Rewards will be automatically linked to your 2K Account once claimed via Twitch. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
[ 2024-12-10 18:00:48 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Songhai, Ibn Battuta, & PC Gamer Win!
Unleash the power of navigable rivers with new Exploration Age civ, Songhai. Check out the full game guide for all the details.
Ready for a leader perfect for exploration? Ibn Battuta has officially joined Civ VII. Check out the latest game guide entry to the Civilization website for full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=C7f2b-zTpDE;full][/previewyoutube]
Exciting news - Civ VII has been selected by the PC Gamer Council as 2025's Most Wanted! Were honored to have been chosen among such an amazing line-up of games. Check out the developer interview between PCGamer, Creative Director Ed Beach and Senior Historian Andrew Johnson here: [previewyoutube=I5IFbAmsGGQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Songhai wraps up our Exploration Age civ reveals for launch, but dont worry - Modern Age reveals are right around the corner. Coming up, keep an eye out for a new guide for a certain Modern Age civ you may have caught on our last livestream. We also have two more exciting things in store:
[ 2024-12-06 19:00:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveal: Songhai
Unleash the power of navigable rivers with new Exploration Age civ, Songhai. Check out the full game guide for all the details.
First Look: Ibn Battuta
Ready for a leader perfect for exploration? Ibn Battuta has officially joined Civ VII. Check out the latest game guide entry to the Civilization website for full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=C7f2b-zTpDE;full][/previewyoutube]
PC Gamer Showcase
Exciting news - Civ VII has been selected by the PC Gamer Council as 2025's Most Wanted! Were honored to have been chosen among such an amazing line-up of games. Check out the developer interview between PCGamer, Creative Director Ed Beach and Senior Historian Andrew Johnson here: [previewyoutube=I5IFbAmsGGQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
Songhai wraps up our Exploration Age civ reveals for launch, but dont worry - Modern Age reveals are right around the corner. Coming up, keep an eye out for a new guide for a certain Modern Age civ you may have caught on our last livestream. We also have two more exciting things in store:
- The Game Awards 2024 - Civilization VII will be at The Game Awards on Thursday, December 12 - with an orchestral performance of the Civilization VII Main Theme, composed by Grammy Award-winning Christopher Tin (the same composer behind the legendary "Baba Yetu" Civilization IV Main Theme and "Sogno di Volare" Civilization VI Main Theme!). Full details here.
- Details on the next Civ Stream - its almost time! Well be revealing dates and details for our next developer livestream deep-diving into the Modern Age. Stay tuned for more.
[ 2024-12-06 19:00:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII orchestral performance at The Game Awards
[ 2024-12-05 17:02:45 CET ] [ Original post ]
We're excited to announce that Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be at The Game Awards 2024 on Thursday, December 12! Don't miss this live orchestral performance of the Civilization VII Main Theme, composed by Grammy Award-winning Christopher Tin, the same composer behind the legendary "Baba Yetu" Civilization IV Main Theme and "Sogno di Volare" Civilization VI Main Theme. The Game Awards 10th Anniversary broadcast will take place live on Thursday, December 12, 2024, starting at 4:30PM PT / 7:30PM ET / 12:30AM GMT. We can't wait to share Civilization VII's Main Theme with the world on such a prestigious stage; see you then! You can pre-order Civilization VII now ahead of its launch on February 11, 2025. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/Sid_Meiers_Civilization_VII/
[ 2024-12-05 17:02:45 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Dev Diary #4: Emergent Narrative
First, let's talk briefly about what narrative is in video games. "Narrative" often refers to the story, plot, or themes that a game aims to convey to players, which provides context for players' actions. But how that's experienced varies drastically depending on the genre. Some games have linear narratives, while others have branching stories that change based on player decisions. For strategy games, especially Civilization, players often form their own story about their empire or playthrough. These stories emerge from choices they make and the results of those decisions. Civ has been exploring narrative events for a while, like with the Outback Tycoon scenario in Civilization VI. But what if we could create a system that recognizes events in a game as open-ended as Civ is, and weave those into larger stories that could emerge from your choices? When Creative Director Ed Beach and I first sat down to think about what we wanted from a system like this in Civilization VII, we were driven by the idea of "History Built in Layers" (check out our PAX panel for more information on that). We've learned from past systems like Civ VI's Gossip mechanics where the player receives information about the actions and activities of other civilizations and our new approach focuses on responding to the unfolding game as it happens. At first, we created this system for specific "narrative events" triggered by player behavior. These are meant to provide you with a snapshot of what might be happening to individual inhabitants of your empire, and to offer you two to three choices to make. They are less about a right or wrong answer, and more about what your civilization's priorities and values are.
However, as the system developed, a bunch of other features and mechanics started finding a use for it: Discoveries (our replacement for "goody huts"), Crises, and systemically generated content meant to flesh out other parts of the game.
The Emergent Narrative system tracks major moments in your game like battles, technological advancements, and big achievements and responds with events tailored to your playthrough. It works via the modifier system, which at its core is a combination of requirements (conditions) and effects (outcomes). A narrative event will wait for its requirements to be fulfilled, which can happen at any point during the game. These requirements vary; some are triggered by your choice of leader, reflecting stories from their lives, such as Augustus' urbanization ambitions or Benjamin Franklin's fire brigade. Other events can be tied to your choice of civilization, or specific gameplay moments. Beyond looking at game states, we also wanted to be able to track your decisions within the narrative events themselves. By applying a narrative tag in some cases, we're actually able to trigger narrative events that call back to things that happened in past Ages. This is enormously powerful, as it enables our writers to tell more granular and specific stories, and really creates a sense of historical immersion at a level we've never had before. We wanted to be able to answer questions we asked ourselves, like "How can we tell a story about someone who was a warmonger in the Antiquity Age, but has been peaceful ever since then?" With the modifier system alone, we didn't have the information needed to track that but with narrative tags, we've opened up the possibility for stories like this and countless more. Narrative events usually, but not always, offer gameplay bonuses such as yields or combat buffs. The goal was to try and make the choices feel approximately equal, to not overshadow the rest of the game, and to be commensurate with the difficulty or rarity of the triggers. We don't want players to feel like they have to play with a guide open to get the results they desire, and making rewards transparent and equal balances those who min-max and those who are more interested in the choice's narrative dilemma. There are the occasional stories where results are hidden, but we hope the clarity across the vast majority of our events lets players take a risk in these one-off situations. You'll only see a subset of these narrative events in a single campaign, which helps make every new playthrough feel unique. By having these occasional moments of mystery, we hope all types of players will partake in the experience of the unknown.
As mentioned before, there are a bunch of different types of narrative events: some are linked to your leader choice, some to your civ choice, and others aren't specific to either. When writing our narrative events, there are several broad categories we got excited about:
Discoveries are a subset of narrative events that only occur on the map, and replace goody huts from previous games. Instead of a small phrase and a standard reward, you'll have a short snippet of text giving you a bit of flavor as to why you're getting these rewards. Unlike goody huts, Discoveries now have a choice between their bonuses, allowing you to have some influence over your early game boosts.
Systemic events are recurring gameplay moments, like Crises or gifts from Independent Powers, and they use the Emergent Narrative system to add context and personality to game mechanics.
Whereas crafted narrative events tell stories, systemic narrative events tend towards the informative. These are more straightforward because their purpose is to add a narrative flair to explain the why and how, rather than telling a complete story. For example, improving relationships with Independent Powers results in a "gift." At one point in development, this gift was just floating text, but we noticed it was being missed by our QA team. By making it a narrative event, we alerted the player to the reward, informed them that the relationship was improving, and added a touch of personality to the moment. This isn't just a small notification at the side: instead, these moments feel integrated into your empire's broader story.
There are over a thousand narrative events for you to experience in Civilization VII at launch, further enhancing the system to ensure every playthrough feels unique. Through the Emergent Narrative system, we have the opportunity to introduce new levels of historical and "what if" storytelling that we've never had before. We can't wait to hear what you think once Civilization VII launches on February 11, 2025.
[ 2024-12-04 17:00:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
Greetings, Civ fans! Sarah here we're finally entering the last month of 2024, but the excitement for Sid Meier's Civilization VII doesn't stop this year. With launch arriving in just over two months, we've got an action-packed December that includes today's Dev Diary on the Emergent Narrative system. What is Emergent Narrative, you ask? Read on to find out and as always, hit us up on Civ's social channels if you have any questions or just want to say hi! == Hi everyone. I'm Cat Manning, the Narrative Director for Civilization VII, and I'm excited to talk about our brand-new Emergent Narrative system. In this Dev Diary, I'll talk about what the Emergent Narrative system is, how it works, why we decided to create it for Civilization VII, and its potential down the road for years to come.
What is the Emergent Narrative system?
First, let's talk briefly about what narrative is in video games. "Narrative" often refers to the story, plot, or themes that a game aims to convey to players, which provides context for players' actions. But how that's experienced varies drastically depending on the genre. Some games have linear narratives, while others have branching stories that change based on player decisions. For strategy games, especially Civilization, players often form their own story about their empire or playthrough. These stories emerge from choices they make and the results of those decisions. Civ has been exploring narrative events for a while, like with the Outback Tycoon scenario in Civilization VI. But what if we could create a system that recognizes events in a game as open-ended as Civ is, and weave those into larger stories that could emerge from your choices? When Creative Director Ed Beach and I first sat down to think about what we wanted from a system like this in Civilization VII, we were driven by the idea of "History Built in Layers" (check out our PAX panel for more information on that). We've learned from past systems like Civ VI's Gossip mechanics where the player receives information about the actions and activities of other civilizations and our new approach focuses on responding to the unfolding game as it happens. At first, we created this system for specific "narrative events" triggered by player behavior. These are meant to provide you with a snapshot of what might be happening to individual inhabitants of your empire, and to offer you two to three choices to make. They are less about a right or wrong answer, and more about what your civilization's priorities and values are.
However, as the system developed, a bunch of other features and mechanics started finding a use for it: Discoveries (our replacement for "goody huts"), Crises, and systemically generated content meant to flesh out other parts of the game.
How the System Works
The Emergent Narrative system tracks major moments in your game like battles, technological advancements, and big achievements and responds with events tailored to your playthrough. It works via the modifier system, which at its core is a combination of requirements (conditions) and effects (outcomes). A narrative event will wait for its requirements to be fulfilled, which can happen at any point during the game. These requirements vary; some are triggered by your choice of leader, reflecting stories from their lives, such as Augustus' urbanization ambitions or Benjamin Franklin's fire brigade. Other events can be tied to your choice of civilization, or specific gameplay moments. Beyond looking at game states, we also wanted to be able to track your decisions within the narrative events themselves. By applying a narrative tag in some cases, we're actually able to trigger narrative events that call back to things that happened in past Ages. This is enormously powerful, as it enables our writers to tell more granular and specific stories, and really creates a sense of historical immersion at a level we've never had before. We wanted to be able to answer questions we asked ourselves, like "How can we tell a story about someone who was a warmonger in the Antiquity Age, but has been peaceful ever since then?" With the modifier system alone, we didn't have the information needed to track that but with narrative tags, we've opened up the possibility for stories like this and countless more. Narrative events usually, but not always, offer gameplay bonuses such as yields or combat buffs. The goal was to try and make the choices feel approximately equal, to not overshadow the rest of the game, and to be commensurate with the difficulty or rarity of the triggers. We don't want players to feel like they have to play with a guide open to get the results they desire, and making rewards transparent and equal balances those who min-max and those who are more interested in the choice's narrative dilemma. There are the occasional stories where results are hidden, but we hope the clarity across the vast majority of our events lets players take a risk in these one-off situations. You'll only see a subset of these narrative events in a single campaign, which helps make every new playthrough feel unique. By having these occasional moments of mystery, we hope all types of players will partake in the experience of the unknown.
Types of Narrative Events
As mentioned before, there are a bunch of different types of narrative events: some are linked to your leader choice, some to your civ choice, and others aren't specific to either. When writing our narrative events, there are several broad categories we got excited about:
- Historical events: These highlight moments large and small from history that align with your gameplay. You might see ancient medicinal discoveries, daring prisoner escapes, chariot riots, artistic feuds, and enormous Mongolian armies.
- What-if scenarios: These explore "what if" questions unique to the sandbox nature of a Civ game. For instance, what could have happened if Ashoka had not been overcome with remorse at the destruction he caused, and instead doubled down on a path of violence? Or if Xerxes had not been defeated and had successfully completed his invasion of Greece?
- Unique gameplay moments: These reflect choices you've directly made in your game, showing the on-the-ground impact of your actions during each Age. Achieving a Golden Age with certain Traditions active, choosing your Religion's beliefs, or suffering damage from wars or weather events can all bring up narrative events!
Discoveries
Discoveries are a subset of narrative events that only occur on the map, and replace goody huts from previous games. Instead of a small phrase and a standard reward, you'll have a short snippet of text giving you a bit of flavor as to why you're getting these rewards. Unlike goody huts, Discoveries now have a choice between their bonuses, allowing you to have some influence over your early game boosts.
Systemic Events
Systemic events are recurring gameplay moments, like Crises or gifts from Independent Powers, and they use the Emergent Narrative system to add context and personality to game mechanics.
Whereas crafted narrative events tell stories, systemic narrative events tend towards the informative. These are more straightforward because their purpose is to add a narrative flair to explain the why and how, rather than telling a complete story. For example, improving relationships with Independent Powers results in a "gift." At one point in development, this gift was just floating text, but we noticed it was being missed by our QA team. By making it a narrative event, we alerted the player to the reward, informed them that the relationship was improving, and added a touch of personality to the moment. This isn't just a small notification at the side: instead, these moments feel integrated into your empire's broader story.
What's Next?
There are over a thousand narrative events for you to experience in Civilization VII at launch, further enhancing the system to ensure every playthrough feels unique. Through the Emergent Narrative system, we have the opportunity to introduce new levels of historical and "what if" storytelling that we've never had before. We can't wait to hear what you think once Civilization VII launches on February 11, 2025.
[ 2024-12-04 17:00:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Hawai'i and Amina!
Aloha, Hawaii! This Exploration Age civ thrives on coastal empires, earning major culture bonuses for building along the shoreline. Check out the full game guide for all the details.
We just unveiled a new First Look for the warrior queen, Amina. Check out the latest Game Guide entry to the Civilization website for full details on her attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=AIzNLmNA15Q;full][/previewyoutube]
Another civ reveal and First Look are coming your way! Plus, were gearing up to drop a brand new developer diary on Emergent Narrative, written by Firaxis' Narrative Director, Cat Manning. Lastly, dont forget to tune in December 1 at 10AM ET / 3PM GMT for Civ Give 2024 - the annual Civ charity stream hosted by our friends at The Civ Show. Firaxis' Lead Historian Andrew Johnson and Game Designer Carl Harrison are joining to chat Civ VI, and whats next with Civ VII - all for a great cause! For all our Civ fans celebrating Thanksgiving, enjoy the holiday!
[ 2024-11-27 19:00:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week (nice and early):
Civ Reveal: Hawai'i
Aloha, Hawaii! This Exploration Age civ thrives on coastal empires, earning major culture bonuses for building along the shoreline. Check out the full game guide for all the details.
First Look: Amina
We just unveiled a new First Look for the warrior queen, Amina. Check out the latest Game Guide entry to the Civilization website for full details on her attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=AIzNLmNA15Q;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
Another civ reveal and First Look are coming your way! Plus, were gearing up to drop a brand new developer diary on Emergent Narrative, written by Firaxis' Narrative Director, Cat Manning. Lastly, dont forget to tune in December 1 at 10AM ET / 3PM GMT for Civ Give 2024 - the annual Civ charity stream hosted by our friends at The Civ Show. Firaxis' Lead Historian Andrew Johnson and Game Designer Carl Harrison are joining to chat Civ VI, and whats next with Civ VII - all for a great cause! For all our Civ fans celebrating Thanksgiving, enjoy the holiday!
[ 2024-11-27 19:00:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Majapahit & Charlemagne!
Say hello to Majapahit! Expand your empire and leverage Specialists to power up your cities with this Exploration Age civ. Check out the full game guide here.
Charlemagne has arrived! Check out the latest First Look, along with a Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=rOhWRmWwCvA;full][/previewyoutube]
Were down to just two more Exploration Age civs in the launch roster, but dont worry - theres more civs to come. Another civ is dropping very soon, and were also working on another leaders First look. Any guesses on whos next? Thats all for this week, Civ fans. Dont forget to wishlist and follow Civilization VII to stay in the loop for reveals, updates, and more surprises. See you next week!
[ 2024-11-22 18:00:27 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveal: Majapahit
Say hello to Majapahit! Expand your empire and leverage Specialists to power up your cities with this Exploration Age civ. Check out the full game guide here.
First Look: Charlemagne
Charlemagne has arrived! Check out the latest First Look, along with a Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=rOhWRmWwCvA;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
Were down to just two more Exploration Age civs in the launch roster, but dont worry - theres more civs to come. Another civ is dropping very soon, and were also working on another leaders First look. Any guesses on whos next? Thats all for this week, Civ fans. Dont forget to wishlist and follow Civilization VII to stay in the loop for reveals, updates, and more surprises. See you next week!
[ 2024-11-22 18:00:27 CET ] [ Original post ]
Check out the Civ VII leaders and civs revealed so far (+ more to come)!
[ 2024-11-21 18:37:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans, Weve been thinking its about time all the leader First Looks and Civ spotlights weve revealed so far had a proper home on Steam. If youve been wanting to revisit a favorite leader or civ, or catch up on one you missed, you can find them now in the video section. More are on the way! And since were already in the video-uploading mood, we thought itd be a good time to introduce the latest leader to the Civilization VII roster: Charlemagne. You can check out his First Look here now: [previewyoutube=rOhWRmWwCvA;full][/previewyoutube] Keep an eye out for new reveals and other Civ videos on the road to launch by following and wishlisting Civilization VII! And let us know - which civs and leaders have caught your eye? - Firaxis Development Team
[ 2024-11-21 18:37:14 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Ming, Inca, and Pachacuti!
Two more Exploration Age civs have officially joined the roster! Expand across the land as Ming China, or conquer the heights and build an empire among the peaks as the Inca. Check out the full game guides for Ming and Inca.
With new civs come new tunes, and you can listen to the Civilization VII soundtrack as it grows over on our YouTube channel. Perfect for a study session, or for planning world domination at work (we wont tell). Check out the soundtrack here. [previewyoutube=kayxBz0Miq8;full][/previewyoutube]
Pachacuti makes his return to Civ VII! Check out the latest First Look and new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=hgHcvlACF8Q;full][/previewyoutube]
The civ and leader lineup is filling up, but there are still a few guesses left to be made. Whos next? Keep an eye out for another civ reveal and First Look, coming soon!
Excited about whats coming? Wishlist and follow Civilization VII on Steam be the first to hear about new reveals, updates, and everything else coming your way. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/#add_to_wishlist_area
[ 2024-11-15 18:00:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveals: Ming and Inca
Two more Exploration Age civs have officially joined the roster! Expand across the land as Ming China, or conquer the heights and build an empire among the peaks as the Inca. Check out the full game guides for Ming and Inca.
New updates to the Civ VII Soundtrack:
With new civs come new tunes, and you can listen to the Civilization VII soundtrack as it grows over on our YouTube channel. Perfect for a study session, or for planning world domination at work (we wont tell). Check out the soundtrack here. [previewyoutube=kayxBz0Miq8;full][/previewyoutube]
First Look: Pachacuti
Pachacuti makes his return to Civ VII! Check out the latest First Look and new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=hgHcvlACF8Q;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
The civ and leader lineup is filling up, but there are still a few guesses left to be made. Whos next? Keep an eye out for another civ reveal and First Look, coming soon!
Stay in the Loop
Excited about whats coming? Wishlist and follow Civilization VII on Steam be the first to hear about new reveals, updates, and everything else coming your way. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/#add_to_wishlist_area
[ 2024-11-15 18:00:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Spain, Isabella, & Exploration Age Livestream!
Unleash the might of the steppes with Mongolia in the Exploration Age, or set sail for riches with Spain, as seen in our latest livestream! Check out the full game guides for Mongolia and Spain.
We also released our First Look video for Isabella and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on her attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=QV2XFYfeZJw;full][/previewyoutube]
Hot off the presses: a brand new developer diary! Economics Feature Lead Edward Zhang covers the ins and outs of Empire Management in Civilization VII. From balancing cities and towns to guiding your empire's growth, learn about how you can build an empire to stand the test of the time. Read the full diary here.
Another episode of Civ Streams just wrapped! Our devs played as Isabella and Spain to show you the major mechanics coming to the Exploration Age, starting with a transition from the Antiquity Age, and deep-diving into religion, treasure fleets, naval combat and more. [previewyoutube=5rrwaXiidJo;full][/previewyoutube]
Two new civ guides and a new First Look lie just beyond the fog of war. Keep an eye out on the Civ socials to stay up to date as we drop new info. Well see you here next week, Civ fans!
[ 2024-11-08 18:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveals: Mongolia & Spain
Unleash the might of the steppes with Mongolia in the Exploration Age, or set sail for riches with Spain, as seen in our latest livestream! Check out the full game guides for Mongolia and Spain.
First Look: Isabella
We also released our First Look video for Isabella and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on her attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=QV2XFYfeZJw;full][/previewyoutube]
Dev Diary #3: Managing Your Empire
Hot off the presses: a brand new developer diary! Economics Feature Lead Edward Zhang covers the ins and outs of Empire Management in Civilization VII. From balancing cities and towns to guiding your empire's growth, learn about how you can build an empire to stand the test of the time. Read the full diary here.
Deep dive into the Exploration Age with our latest developer livestream!
Another episode of Civ Streams just wrapped! Our devs played as Isabella and Spain to show you the major mechanics coming to the Exploration Age, starting with a transition from the Antiquity Age, and deep-diving into religion, treasure fleets, naval combat and more. [previewyoutube=5rrwaXiidJo;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
Two new civ guides and a new First Look lie just beyond the fog of war. Keep an eye out on the Civ socials to stay up to date as we drop new info. Well see you here next week, Civ fans!
[ 2024-11-08 18:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Dev Diary #3: Managing Your Empire
As fans know, Civilization VII is a 4X game, with each "X" standing for:
One of the first changes youll notice in Civ VII is the distinction between Cities and Towns. You begin with a Founder Unit to establish your Capital City, while every subsequent Settler Unit creates a Town. Later on, you have the option to spend Gold to upgrade these Towns into full-fledged Cities. This distinction is an evolution from the singular focus on Cities, as seen in previous Civ games. While Cities remain powerful centers of production and development, Towns serve as essential support hubs, providing economic benefits without requiring as much oversight. Importantly, Towns do not have a Production Menu - they automatically convert their Production into Gold and offer various support roles for your empire through specialization. As Towns reach a set threshold of Population, they gain access to a Focus Menu, which allows players to specialize them in one of several roles - Farming Towns for Food production, Fort Towns for Unit healing and defense, Trade Outposts for extending trade range and boosting Happiness, and many more. Once you select a specialization, its a permanent choice for the Age, making it a key strategic decision that rewards forward planning. Heres an overview of the various Town specialties in Civ VII (some are Age-specific):
Our goal was to make expansion more strategic and less overwhelming. In past Civ games, each new City added something more to manage. By the late game, the sheer number of Cities and decisions could lead to a loss of focus and a lot of busywork. Towns are our answer to streamlining expansion. They grow, support, and adapt to your needs without requiring constant input. Past Civilization games have always had to balance between "Tall" and "Wide" playstyles. Tall players prefer quality over quantity with fewer build queues so that less time is spent managing empire production. Wide players prefer quantity with an empire that covers every tile as far as the eye can see. This balance has shifted with the past couple of iterations: Civilization V favored more of a Tall strategy, while Civilization VI leaned towards Wide. For players focused on min-maxing, these approaches tended to be the most effective ways to play. With the addition of Towns, Civilization VII aims to support both playstyles equally, leaving the choice a matter of preference rather than strategy. A Tall player can now have an empire that collects yields and resources from a vast swath of land, but only worry about a minimal number of build queues. With Towns feeding a few Cities, they will grow into large production powerhouses supplemented by the Gold income from those Towns. A Wide player can play just as they would in Civ VI, placing Cities in every nook and cranny. With Town production converted into Gold, even this playstyle is streamlined by encouraging the batch purchase of the Buildings necessary to get that new City up to par with the rest of the empire. And for those Deity players who are optimizing their play down to the last Gold per turn, the choice between Towns and Cities presents an ever-changing strategic calculus that provides a new impactful decision every time you send forth a Settler. Fans of all approaches will find the flexibility they need to build their ideal empire in Civ VII.
One of the major shifts in Civ VII is the removal of Builder Units. Rather than sending Builders out to improve tiles, Population growth naturally drives improvements. As Settlements generate Food, they accumulate said Food in a bucket. Once a Settlements growth bucket is filled, you gain a Population point that can be allocated to a tile for improvement, or assigned as a Specialist to Urban tiles. The bucket then grows in size for the next growth event. The decision to tie tile development to Population growth simplifies the gameplay and reduces the repetitive actions seen in past games, especially as you manage more Settlements. Now, both Food as a yield and your growth choice carry more weight and integrate more seamlessly with your overall strategy.
In Civ VII, the Settlement Cap serves as a soft limit on the number of Cities and Towns you can maintain without penalty. If you exceed this cap, local Happiness in each Settlement decreases, which in turn reduces your Global Happiness yield. Balancing your expansion within the Settlement Cap is critical to efficiently growing your empire. Just as Units and Buildings have maintenance costs to limit unchecked growth, the Settlement Cap introduces a balance between eXpansion and eXploitation. It encourages thoughtful, strategic growth rather than rapid, unchecked sprawl. There are multiple ways to increase the Settlement Cap, but they require time and resource investment. While you can choose to exceed the cap, managing your Happiness yield effectively will be essential to mitigate the penalties of overextension and keep your empire thriving.
In Civ VII, Happiness functions as both a local and global yield that directly impacts the stability of your empire. Locally, Happiness is necessary to support Specialists and maintain Buildings within your Cities and Towns. Globally, it accumulates across your settlements to trigger Celebrations - special events that provide powerful buffs and slots for Traditions and Social policies. Effectively managing Happiness is key to the growth and stability of your civilization. If local Happiness levels fall below zero, you will face penalties that reduce the output of all other yields, slowing down your progress. Keeping an eye on the resources and conditions that affect Happiness is key to maintaining a stable and prosperous Settlement.
As your civilization advances through the Ages, not all of your constructs will stay the same. Warehouse Buildings, Unique Buildings & Improvements, and Wonders retain their effects and continue to provide all bonuses regardless of the Age. They are tagged in the game as Ageless. These Buildings ensure that your investments carry forward through time, providing a reliable backbone to your empire's infrastructure. However, other Buildings and Improvements may eventually become outdated: they will lose their effects and adjacency bonuses, keeping only their base yields, prompting opportunities to overbuild and evolve your empire to better suit the new Ages requirements and resources. Overbuilding allows you to adapt your Cities to new challenges and opportunities as you progress through the Ages. After transitioning from one Age to the next, older structures can be replaced by new, more powerful Buildings, making sure that your empires infrastructure always matches its needs.
In Civilization VI, District planning could be a complex and often challenging mechanic. For Civ VII, we've taken major steps to streamline this experience. Rather than assigning a specific specialty to Urban Districts, such as a Science or Culture District, we've made every District more flexible. You no longer need to pre-build any District, as they are automatically established when you place a Building down. Each Urban tile has two Building slots that can hold any type of Building, allowing you to customize each District to suit your strategy. Additionally, theres no theming bonus for grouping similar buildings together. We made this decision to avoid creating the illusion of choice and to ensure that players make meaningful, interesting decisions rather than being guided by artificially strong incentives. Finally, new Districts must be placed adjacent to the City Center and expand outward, creating a more cohesive and unified look for your Cities. This approach not only makes City planning more intuitive, but also gives your Cities a more organic, natural layout as they grow.
Adjacency bonuses make their return in Civ VII, now with a more streamlined design. Rather than being tied to specific Districts, these bonuses are granted to certain Buildings based on the natural features and player-made structures surrounding them. While the bonuses may start small, placing Specialists on Urban tiles can significantly enhance their effects, making adjacency a key part of your City's development strategy. No need to worry about crunching numbers - we've integrated all the calculations directly into the UI. What you see is exactly what you get.
Specialists return in Civ VII, but with a greater significance. Allocating Population to Urban tiles creates Specialists, who provide base Science and Culture yields while consuming Food and Happiness. They also amplify adjacency bonuses of their tile, making them vital for maximizing your City's potential. Deciding how to balance the benefits they bring with the resources they consume is a critical part of efficient City management.
Unique Quarters are formed when two civ-specific Unique Buildings share the same tile. They offer substantial benefits and distinct visual flair that reflects your civilizations culture and progress. However, spreading your Unique Buildings across different tiles may grant better yields in some niche scenarios, depending on your overall strategy and terrain layout.
Warehouse Buildings play a pivotal role in maximizing yields from Improvements. These buildings provide bonuses based on the number of similar Improvements in a settlement. For example, a Granary boosts Food production from Farms, Plantations, and Pastures. They become focal points in Settlements with dense agricultural or industrial development, rewarding careful planning and optimal placement.
Wonders are among the most powerful things you can construct in Civ VII. Each Wonder occupies a full tile and has a powerful effect, and provides adjacency bonuses to every surrounding Building. One of the more frustrating experiences in previous Civ games was losing out on a Wonder just before completing it, often leading to rage quits or loading up older saves. If you have Advisor Warnings on, Civ VII will now notify you if a Wonder you're building is already being constructed by another player youve met, helping you plan accordingly and avoid those unpleasant surprises. [previewyoutube=R9dwzaZ8SPQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Were really excited for you to dive into these new systems in Civilization VII. With streamlined Settlement and empire management, more intuitive growth mechanics, and the ability to specialize your Towns in meaningful ways, we believe that every part of managing your empire will feel more impactful, strategic, and fun. We cant wait to see how you adapt and make these mechanics your own, forging unique empires that you believe in. If you have any questions or thoughts, share them in our forums, social media channels, and everywhere else youre talking Civ. Thanks for reading, and happy building!
[ 2024-11-06 18:55:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans! Sarah here with another Dev Diary, this time tackling one of the most discussed and interesting parts of Civilization VII: managing your empire! Today's author is Edward Zhang, who will be sharing a lot of in-depth detail on how you go about building an empire to stand the test of time. Be sure to tune-in to our third Civ Streams livestream on Thursday, November 7 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET to get a closer look at the Exploration Age and more. As always, we love hearing from the community so please continue to share your thoughts and questions across all of Civ's social media channels! == Hello, Civ fans! Im Edward Zhang, the Economics Feature Lead for Civilization VII. Its a thrill to dive deep into one of the core aspects of Civilization gameplay: the way you build and manage your empire's Cities (and now Towns). Today, well explore how these changes redefine the core experience of Civilization, bringing one of the biggest shifts in the franchise's history. Our goal was to streamline gameplay, tone down complexity, and reduce the overwhelming micromanagement that often dominated the later stages of previous Civ titles. Lets break down some of the key mechanics and the thinking behind our design decisions.
Design Goals
The Challenges of Empire Management in the 4X Genre
As fans know, Civilization VII is a 4X game, with each "X" standing for:
- eXplore: Players explore the game world and discover new resources and opportunities, as well as other civilizations and challenges
- eXpand: Players expand their control by establishing new settlements and acquiring territory, represented by "hexes" on the map
- eXploit: Players use their resources and abilities to further strengthen their civilization
- eXterminate: Players can attack or be attacked by rival civilizations and independent powers
City Management
Towns: A Fresh Approach to Expansion
One of the first changes youll notice in Civ VII is the distinction between Cities and Towns. You begin with a Founder Unit to establish your Capital City, while every subsequent Settler Unit creates a Town. Later on, you have the option to spend Gold to upgrade these Towns into full-fledged Cities. This distinction is an evolution from the singular focus on Cities, as seen in previous Civ games. While Cities remain powerful centers of production and development, Towns serve as essential support hubs, providing economic benefits without requiring as much oversight. Importantly, Towns do not have a Production Menu - they automatically convert their Production into Gold and offer various support roles for your empire through specialization. As Towns reach a set threshold of Population, they gain access to a Focus Menu, which allows players to specialize them in one of several roles - Farming Towns for Food production, Fort Towns for Unit healing and defense, Trade Outposts for extending trade range and boosting Happiness, and many more. Once you select a specialization, its a permanent choice for the Age, making it a key strategic decision that rewards forward planning. Heres an overview of the various Town specialties in Civ VII (some are Age-specific):
- Farming Town / Fishing Town: Bonus Food on Farms, Pastures, Plantations, and Fishing Boats.
- Mining Town: Bonus Production on Camps, Woodcutters, Clay Pits, Mines, and Quarries.
- Trade Outpost: Bonus Happiness on resource tiles and Trade range.
- Fort Town: Bonus healing to Units and health to Walls in this Town.
- Religious site: Bonus Happiness to all Temples in your Empire.
- Hub town: Bonus Influence for every connected Settlement.
- Urban Center: Bonus Science and Culture on Districts with two Buildings in this Town.
- Factory Town: Bonus Gold towards purchasing a Factory in this Town and adds an additional Resource Slot.
The Design Behind Towns
Our goal was to make expansion more strategic and less overwhelming. In past Civ games, each new City added something more to manage. By the late game, the sheer number of Cities and decisions could lead to a loss of focus and a lot of busywork. Towns are our answer to streamlining expansion. They grow, support, and adapt to your needs without requiring constant input. Past Civilization games have always had to balance between "Tall" and "Wide" playstyles. Tall players prefer quality over quantity with fewer build queues so that less time is spent managing empire production. Wide players prefer quantity with an empire that covers every tile as far as the eye can see. This balance has shifted with the past couple of iterations: Civilization V favored more of a Tall strategy, while Civilization VI leaned towards Wide. For players focused on min-maxing, these approaches tended to be the most effective ways to play. With the addition of Towns, Civilization VII aims to support both playstyles equally, leaving the choice a matter of preference rather than strategy. A Tall player can now have an empire that collects yields and resources from a vast swath of land, but only worry about a minimal number of build queues. With Towns feeding a few Cities, they will grow into large production powerhouses supplemented by the Gold income from those Towns. A Wide player can play just as they would in Civ VI, placing Cities in every nook and cranny. With Town production converted into Gold, even this playstyle is streamlined by encouraging the batch purchase of the Buildings necessary to get that new City up to par with the rest of the empire. And for those Deity players who are optimizing their play down to the last Gold per turn, the choice between Towns and Cities presents an ever-changing strategic calculus that provides a new impactful decision every time you send forth a Settler. Fans of all approaches will find the flexibility they need to build their ideal empire in Civ VII.
A New Growth System: No Builders, No Problem
One of the major shifts in Civ VII is the removal of Builder Units. Rather than sending Builders out to improve tiles, Population growth naturally drives improvements. As Settlements generate Food, they accumulate said Food in a bucket. Once a Settlements growth bucket is filled, you gain a Population point that can be allocated to a tile for improvement, or assigned as a Specialist to Urban tiles. The bucket then grows in size for the next growth event. The decision to tie tile development to Population growth simplifies the gameplay and reduces the repetitive actions seen in past games, especially as you manage more Settlements. Now, both Food as a yield and your growth choice carry more weight and integrate more seamlessly with your overall strategy.
Empire Management
The Settlement Cap: Strategic Growth Over Unchecked Sprawl
In Civ VII, the Settlement Cap serves as a soft limit on the number of Cities and Towns you can maintain without penalty. If you exceed this cap, local Happiness in each Settlement decreases, which in turn reduces your Global Happiness yield. Balancing your expansion within the Settlement Cap is critical to efficiently growing your empire. Just as Units and Buildings have maintenance costs to limit unchecked growth, the Settlement Cap introduces a balance between eXpansion and eXploitation. It encourages thoughtful, strategic growth rather than rapid, unchecked sprawl. There are multiple ways to increase the Settlement Cap, but they require time and resource investment. While you can choose to exceed the cap, managing your Happiness yield effectively will be essential to mitigate the penalties of overextension and keep your empire thriving.
Happiness: A Double-Edged Sword
In Civ VII, Happiness functions as both a local and global yield that directly impacts the stability of your empire. Locally, Happiness is necessary to support Specialists and maintain Buildings within your Cities and Towns. Globally, it accumulates across your settlements to trigger Celebrations - special events that provide powerful buffs and slots for Traditions and Social policies. Effectively managing Happiness is key to the growth and stability of your civilization. If local Happiness levels fall below zero, you will face penalties that reduce the output of all other yields, slowing down your progress. Keeping an eye on the resources and conditions that affect Happiness is key to maintaining a stable and prosperous Settlement.
Management Through the Ages: What Stays vs. What Decays
As your civilization advances through the Ages, not all of your constructs will stay the same. Warehouse Buildings, Unique Buildings & Improvements, and Wonders retain their effects and continue to provide all bonuses regardless of the Age. They are tagged in the game as Ageless. These Buildings ensure that your investments carry forward through time, providing a reliable backbone to your empire's infrastructure. However, other Buildings and Improvements may eventually become outdated: they will lose their effects and adjacency bonuses, keeping only their base yields, prompting opportunities to overbuild and evolve your empire to better suit the new Ages requirements and resources. Overbuilding allows you to adapt your Cities to new challenges and opportunities as you progress through the Ages. After transitioning from one Age to the next, older structures can be replaced by new, more powerful Buildings, making sure that your empires infrastructure always matches its needs.
Key Gameplay Mechanics
Districts Overhauled
In Civilization VI, District planning could be a complex and often challenging mechanic. For Civ VII, we've taken major steps to streamline this experience. Rather than assigning a specific specialty to Urban Districts, such as a Science or Culture District, we've made every District more flexible. You no longer need to pre-build any District, as they are automatically established when you place a Building down. Each Urban tile has two Building slots that can hold any type of Building, allowing you to customize each District to suit your strategy. Additionally, theres no theming bonus for grouping similar buildings together. We made this decision to avoid creating the illusion of choice and to ensure that players make meaningful, interesting decisions rather than being guided by artificially strong incentives. Finally, new Districts must be placed adjacent to the City Center and expand outward, creating a more cohesive and unified look for your Cities. This approach not only makes City planning more intuitive, but also gives your Cities a more organic, natural layout as they grow.
Adjacency Streamlined
Adjacency bonuses make their return in Civ VII, now with a more streamlined design. Rather than being tied to specific Districts, these bonuses are granted to certain Buildings based on the natural features and player-made structures surrounding them. While the bonuses may start small, placing Specialists on Urban tiles can significantly enhance their effects, making adjacency a key part of your City's development strategy. No need to worry about crunching numbers - we've integrated all the calculations directly into the UI. What you see is exactly what you get.
Specialists
Specialists return in Civ VII, but with a greater significance. Allocating Population to Urban tiles creates Specialists, who provide base Science and Culture yields while consuming Food and Happiness. They also amplify adjacency bonuses of their tile, making them vital for maximizing your City's potential. Deciding how to balance the benefits they bring with the resources they consume is a critical part of efficient City management.
Unique Quarters
Unique Quarters are formed when two civ-specific Unique Buildings share the same tile. They offer substantial benefits and distinct visual flair that reflects your civilizations culture and progress. However, spreading your Unique Buildings across different tiles may grant better yields in some niche scenarios, depending on your overall strategy and terrain layout.
Warehouse Buildings
Warehouse Buildings play a pivotal role in maximizing yields from Improvements. These buildings provide bonuses based on the number of similar Improvements in a settlement. For example, a Granary boosts Food production from Farms, Plantations, and Pastures. They become focal points in Settlements with dense agricultural or industrial development, rewarding careful planning and optimal placement.
Wonders
Wonders are among the most powerful things you can construct in Civ VII. Each Wonder occupies a full tile and has a powerful effect, and provides adjacency bonuses to every surrounding Building. One of the more frustrating experiences in previous Civ games was losing out on a Wonder just before completing it, often leading to rage quits or loading up older saves. If you have Advisor Warnings on, Civ VII will now notify you if a Wonder you're building is already being constructed by another player youve met, helping you plan accordingly and avoid those unpleasant surprises. [previewyoutube=R9dwzaZ8SPQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Last Words
Were really excited for you to dive into these new systems in Civilization VII. With streamlined Settlement and empire management, more intuitive growth mechanics, and the ability to specialize your Towns in meaningful ways, we believe that every part of managing your empire will feel more impactful, strategic, and fun. We cant wait to see how you adapt and make these mechanics your own, forging unique empires that you believe in. If you have any questions or thoughts, share them in our forums, social media channels, and everywhere else youre talking Civ. Thanks for reading, and happy building!
[ 2024-11-06 18:55:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
Join Us Live Tomorrow for an Exploration Age Banner Drop!
[ 2024-11-06 18:00:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans! A heads-up regarding our Exploration Age livestream tomorrow at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT / 7PM CEST -- we're rolling out our first Civilization VII Twitch drop!
Starting with this stream until launch day, score an exclusive Exploration Age banner for your customizable Civ VII profile when you link your 2K account with Twitch, and tune in for at least 15 minutes on the Firaxis Twitch Channel. All the details are here.
While you're there, we'll be revealing a new civ and leader and diving into details on the Exploration Age - Distant Lands, religion, naval battles, and more. Hope to see you live tomorrow!
[ 2024-11-06 18:00:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Normans, Machiavelli, and an upcoming livestream!
Both land and sea are yours to conquer with new Exploration Age civ, Norman! Check out the full game guide for Norman here.
We also released our First Look video for Machiavelli and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=1N6hmgn_ivc;full][/previewyoutube]
Listen to the first 11 tracks of the original Civilization VII soundtrack now on YouTube.
Our devs are back with another episode of Civ Streams! This time, were setting sail to Distant Lands in the Exploration Age, covering many of the unique features, civs, and even resources that make this Age unique. Well also be debuting a brand new First Look and new civ in action. Join us on November 7 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel for an inside look. Full livestream details here.
A new civ reveal is on the way, and one more civ and First Look will be coming with next weeks Exploration Age livestream. Also, get your daily reading in with a brand new developer diary on Empire Management: covering the ins and outs of towns and cities in Civilization VII.
[ 2024-11-01 16:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveal: Norman
Both land and sea are yours to conquer with new Exploration Age civ, Norman! Check out the full game guide for Norman here.
First Look: Machiavelli
We also released our First Look video for Machiavelli and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=1N6hmgn_ivc;full][/previewyoutube]
The songs of Civ VII are here!
Listen to the first 11 tracks of the original Civilization VII soundtrack now on YouTube.
Exploration Age livestream is coming November 7!
Our devs are back with another episode of Civ Streams! This time, were setting sail to Distant Lands in the Exploration Age, covering many of the unique features, civs, and even resources that make this Age unique. Well also be debuting a brand new First Look and new civ in action. Join us on November 7 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel for an inside look. Full livestream details here.
Coming up
A new civ reveal is on the way, and one more civ and First Look will be coming with next weeks Exploration Age livestream. Also, get your daily reading in with a brand new developer diary on Empire Management: covering the ins and outs of towns and cities in Civilization VII.
[ 2024-11-01 16:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civ Streams | The Exploration Age
[ 2024-10-30 16:02:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans, the wait is almost over! We know youre eager to see what the Exploration Age has in store, and were just as excited to finally pull back the curtain. Tune in on November 7 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT on the Firaxis Games Twitch Channel or Civilization YouTube Channel.
In this livestream, all sails are prepped as we cross rough seas and settle on Distant Lands. Well take you straight into the heart of the Exploration Age, revealing new gameplay and mechanics designed to bring this Age to life. Plus, well debut a brand new First Look and some Exploration Age civs in action.
Well also be answering your questions live, so tune in to leave your questions for our dev team, and well tackle as many as we can during the stream.
Be sure to join us on November 7, and then check out new updates to the official Civilization VII website after the livestream ends. See you there!
[ 2024-10-30 16:02:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civ VII is nominated for the Golden Joystick Awards!
Voting closes November 1, 2024. Thanks for all your support and for joining us on each and every turn! - The Firaxis Development Team
[ 2024-10-25 18:00:45 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ players! We're excited to share that Civilization VII has been nominated for not one, but TWO Golden Joystick Awards - Most Wanted Game and Best Game Trailer! Our team has been working hard to bring you a game that lives up to the Civ legacy, and these nominations are a huge honor for us. If you're as excited for Civ 7 as we are, we'd love your support to bring these awards home! And, if you weren't already convinced, a special word from our Creative Director, Ed Beach: [previewyoutube=yHT4NGbDYLA;full][/previewyoutube]
[url=2kgam.es/3Bz5LQV]Cast your vote here!
Voting closes November 1, 2024. Thanks for all your support and for joining us on each and every turn! - The Firaxis Development Team
[ 2024-10-25 18:00:45 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Abbasid, Persia, and Xerxes!
Lean into culture and science with a new Exploration Age civ, Abbasid! And, fuel your army with powerful bonuses to gold with Antiquity Age civ, Persia! See the full game guides for Abbasid and Persia.
We also released our First Look video for Xerxes and added a new game guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=48eKI9ic7rU;full][/previewyoutube]
In case youre hungry for more reveals, weve got another Civ and First Look coming your way soon. Also, we know youve been waiting for more gameplay, so I come bearing good news: well be sharing details soon on our next livestream, where our devs will dive into the Exploration Age. Stay tuned!
[ 2024-10-25 16:01:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveals: Abbasid & Persia
Lean into culture and science with a new Exploration Age civ, Abbasid! And, fuel your army with powerful bonuses to gold with Antiquity Age civ, Persia! See the full game guides for Abbasid and Persia.
First Look: Xerxes
We also released our First Look video for Xerxes and added a new game guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=48eKI9ic7rU;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up
In case youre hungry for more reveals, weve got another Civ and First Look coming your way soon. Also, we know youve been waiting for more gameplay, so I come bearing good news: well be sharing details soon on our next livestream, where our devs will dive into the Exploration Age. Stay tuned!
[ 2024-10-25 16:01:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Mississippian, Chola, and Ashoka!
Ready your fire arrows, because Mississippian has arrived! Also, prepare to master the power of the trade with new Exploration Age civ, Chola! See the full game guides for Mississippian and Chola.
We also released our First Look video for Ashoka and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=chSedhfiiGo;full][/previewyoutube]
Weve got more Civs to show you and another First Look, so keep your eyes on the Civ socials! Otherwise, see you here this time next week for the next recap!
[ 2024-10-18 19:52:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
Civ Reveals: Mississippian & Chola
Ready your fire arrows, because Mississippian has arrived! Also, prepare to master the power of the trade with new Exploration Age civ, Chola! See the full game guides for Mississippian and Chola.
First Look: Ashoka
We also released our First Look video for Ashoka and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=chSedhfiiGo;full][/previewyoutube]
Coming up...
Weve got more Civs to show you and another First Look, so keep your eyes on the Civ socials! Otherwise, see you here this time next week for the next recap!
[ 2024-10-18 19:52:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Trng Trc, Civ Streams, and more!
Learn more about Civ VIIs art and design in a PAX Australia panel! Just yesterday, our devs sat down to discuss the creative process behind making Civilization VII, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at concepts and iterations that brought the game to life. Watch it here! Plus, weve got something extra - this panel marked the first new Leader reveal since announce! Check out the latest First Look video for Trng Trc. [previewyoutube=A1bYUT0HXnE;full][/previewyoutube]
In the latest Civ Stream, our devs sat down with Shawnee special guests for a sneak peek at Exploration, and a discussion about bringing Tecumseh and the Shawnee to life in Civilization VII. Check it out here on YouTube or Twitch. [previewyoutube=jtqi0ZFJd8M;full][/previewyoutube]
Ever wonder how Civs & Leaders are chosen for Civilization VII? Learn about the selection process and more in the latest dev diary from Executive Producer, Dennis Shirk.
The road to February is paved with more reveals! Next week, were dropping two new Civ Game Guides and another First Look. (Some of our more eagle-eyed fans may see at least one of these Civ reveals coming!) Stay tuned for more as we continue our countdown to launch.
[ 2024-10-11 16:00:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
PAX Panel and New First Look: Trng Trc
Learn more about Civ VIIs art and design in a PAX Australia panel! Just yesterday, our devs sat down to discuss the creative process behind making Civilization VII, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at concepts and iterations that brought the game to life. Watch it here! Plus, weve got something extra - this panel marked the first new Leader reveal since announce! Check out the latest First Look video for Trng Trc. [previewyoutube=A1bYUT0HXnE;full][/previewyoutube]
Civ Streams: Tecumseh with Shawnee Special Guests
In the latest Civ Stream, our devs sat down with Shawnee special guests for a sneak peek at Exploration, and a discussion about bringing Tecumseh and the Shawnee to life in Civilization VII. Check it out here on YouTube or Twitch. [previewyoutube=jtqi0ZFJd8M;full][/previewyoutube]
Developer Diary #2: Leaders & Civs
Ever wonder how Civs & Leaders are chosen for Civilization VII? Learn about the selection process and more in the latest dev diary from Executive Producer, Dennis Shirk.
What to expect next week!
The road to February is paved with more reveals! Next week, were dropping two new Civ Game Guides and another First Look. (Some of our more eagle-eyed fans may see at least one of these Civ reveals coming!) Stay tuned for more as we continue our countdown to launch.
[ 2024-10-11 16:00:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
Watch the Civilization VII Developer Panel at PAX Australia
[ 2024-10-09 17:34:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
We'll be at PAX Australia discussing Sid Meier's Civilization VII on Friday, October 11! Don't miss the "Civilization VII Developer Panel: Bringing Your Civ World to Life" happening 5PM PT (Oct 10) / 11AM AEDT (Oct 11) on the PAX Australia Twitch channel!
This chat with developers from Firaxis includes Andrew Frederiksen (Lead Producer), Ryan Andrade (Lead Concept Artist), John Fitzgerald (Lead Unit Artist), and Matthew Quickel (Senior Lead Environment Artist), taking a look at the concepts, inspiration, iteration, and creation that shaped the striking visual style of Civilization VII.
If you're attending PAX Australia, come watch the discussion live in the Quokka Theatre at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) on Friday, October 11 at 11AM AEDT! Everyone else can enjoy the livestream at 5PM PT (Oct 10) / 11AM AEDT (Oct 11) on the PAX Australia Twitch channel!
[ 2024-10-09 17:34:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Dev Diary #2: Leaders & Civs
The way we choose which leaders and civs to put into the game has evolved over the years, and even more so for Civilization VII. In the old days, the selection process was often pretty loose - a designer might think, "Hey, this could be fun," and that would be all it would take to get them into the game. As the franchise has grown and more players from around the world join the Civ community, we have to rightfully be more thoughtful in which leaders and civs make sense for the game. Typically, we think about leaders and civs along a few criteria:
There are, of course, Personas. Many historical leaders and civilizations had complex, multifaceted histories. We introduced Personas in Civilization VI as a way to acknowledge historical figures who have ties to different civilizations, or those who excelled in two unique and important areas of statecraft. Personas return in Civilization VII with a stronger focus on the latter, as the ability to mix and match leaders and civs inherently covers the former. Every Persona comes fully equipped with their own unique feature set as a leader - a Unique Ability and Agenda, as well as a distinct outfit and background. One example in Civilization VII is Napoleon*, who can be played as either his Emperor** or Revolutionary*** Persona - reflecting the periods of his life during the French Revolution and his subsequent reign as ruler. The last thing I'll note is that leaders and civs aren't selected by a single person or even department here at the studio - it's a wholly collaborative effort across the entire team. We take in considerations from the art team, historians, designers, the community - everyone plays a part in shaping the roster by bringing their unique perspectives. It truly takes a village to bring leaders and civs to life!
One of the more notable features in Civilization VII is the ability to mix and match leaders and civs. I mentioned a bit about the rationale above, but wanted to expand a bit more on our thought process. A major reason for adding mix and match was to support Ages. In past games, you always played as the same leader and civ combo through the entire game. With your empire being represented by multiple different civs across a full campaign in Civilization VII, we needed to make sure that players still had a strong cohesive sense of "who" they're playing as, and against. With Ages, we thought about several different approaches on how we could handle civs and leaders. This included the idea of switching leaders per Age, as well as designing in "stacks" where every Civ would be like what we have for India (Maurya, to Chola, to Mughal). Each of these options fell short in different ways. We were convinced that swapping leaders would be particularly confusing to understand who you were playing with. Players often say that they're making alliances or waging war against Cleopatra, Gandhi, or Montezuma - not Egypt, India, or the Aztecs. And if the leader changes mid-game, that narrative inside the player's head is disrupted. In a similar vein, only choosing civilizations that have a full "stack," as in a direct historical lineage, meant that we would have to be greatly limited in who we could consider for Civilization VII. You would only be able to pick civs whose past spans the entirety of history, which means no America. That brings us back to "why mix and match" - and in some sense, why Ages? Through this feature, we're able to make sure you maintain a strong sense of identity for your empire, your friends, and your rivals on the world stage. Creating historical "pathways" instead of a strict empire stack provides significantly more replayability and allows us to represent a more diverse set of cultures. We're able to expand leaders into new categories, shining a spotlight on figures who contributed to humanity in ways many players may be discovering for the first time. And, of course, strategy! Every leader has a unique playstyle, and you'll be able to blend that playstyle with the unique traits of each civilization during the Age.
Now that we've gone through the structural and categorical changes, let's go through the actual components of leaders and civs. As we've mentioned before, every civ is tied to a specific Age, and you get to experience that civ at the height of its power. Each civ comes equipped with a Unique Ability, Unique Infrastructure, a unique Civic Tree, an associated Wonder, Unique Units (both Civilian and Military), and typically a location Starting Bias. Combined together, these nudge the civ into a certain playstyle, categorized across Military, Diplomacy, Expansion, Science, Culture, and Economy.
For example, Han China is an Antiquity Age civilization. As you complete the Han's unique Civic Tree, you can unlock the Guanxi, Jin Qing, and/or Tianxia Traditions - each of these being available to slot into your social policies for your empire in future Ages, regardless of which civ you choose. Han China has a Unique Infrastructure in the Great Wall - a Unique Improvement. In contrast, Rome's Unique Infrastructure comes in the form of their Unique Quarter - the Forum, which is created when combining Rome's two Unique Buildings, the Temple of Jupiter and Basilica, together in a single District. Unique Infrastructure like the Great Wall and the Roman Forum are Ageless, meaning their effects last across all Ages, and you cannot build over these structures. Unique Civilian Units come in different styles as well. Han China's Sh Df is like a mini "Great People" system - each Sh Df provides a different reward, is received only once, and increases in cost. Maya's Jaguar Slayer, on the other hand, replaces the Scout and gives the unit the power to create an invisible trap on Vegetated tiles to damage enemy units and end their movement. Every civ has an associated Wonder, giving them both the ability to unlock that Wonder earlier through their unique Civic Tree and a production bonus when building it. These Wonders are not unique to the civ though; wait too long to build your associated Wonder, and you may find that another player has scooped you! For leaders, each comes packed with a Unique Ability, Agenda, and occasional Starting Bias; again, nudging their playstyle into the above mentioned categories. In Civilization VII, the AI will always pair leaders and civs with their closest ideal choice - typically determined by historical ties or geographical ties. You'll see those options as well in the form of a small portrait icon when starting a new game, but thanks to mix and match functionality you can freely choose which leader and civs you want to pair together. If you're playing more for strategy than historical immersion, you'll typically want to match a leader's playstyle to the civ's playstyle.
Something new to Civilization VII's leaders is the Attribute system. Attributes offer a way to customize your leader further during the course of a game, split into those six categories: Cultural, Diplomatic, Economic, Expansionist, Militaristic, and Scientific. Your leaders and civs have different strengths in these categories, determining the affinity you have toward earning certain Attribute points with gameplay, and you spend these points on attribute Skill Trees that make your leader stronger. For example, Augustus has a strong focus on Culture - so you'll find yourself having more chances to earn Cultural Attribute points. Importantly, Attributes and their bonuses persist across Ages - ensuring that while your empire grows across time, so too does your leader! Attribute points can be earned across a wide variety of gameplay actions - building certain Wonders, researching certain Civics, completing narrative events, and as rewards for finishing milestones along Victory Paths.
Leaders and civs are a crucial element to the Civilization franchise, and I'm incredibly excited for players to experience each of them in Civilization VII. Through Ages and features like civ swapping and mix & match, we're able to go wider and deeper with civs and leaders than ever before. Ed shared that we'll have the most civs at launch and the story is the same with leaders; together with our additional leader Personas, Civilization VII will launch with the most leader selections we've ever had in franchise history! For a look ahead on the next Dev Diary, we're going to be tackling a topic that core Civ fans have been dying to know more information about: empire management. We'll be detailing everything from how cities work, populations, yields, what a "warehouse" building is, overbuilding, and more. If you have any questions, please continue to share your feedback and thoughts across our social media channels. As always, thanks for being the best fans in gaming. *Napoleon leader not included in the base game. **Napoleon (Emperor) is available as bonus content for players that link a 2K Account to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here. ***Napoleon (Revolutionary) is available as bonus content for players that link the same 2K Account to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here.
[ 2024-10-08 16:02:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans! Sarah, your CM here with another Dev Diary. Today, we'll be diving into Leaders and Civs - two key ingredients to the Civilization franchise. And who better to detail this than Lead Franchise Producer Dennis Shirk, a Firaxis veteran of more than 19 years! Take it away, Dennis!
Hi everyone, Dennis Shirk from Firaxis here! Leaders and civs hold a dear place in my heart, and I'm excited to detail some of our thinking when it comes to Civilization VII. I'll explain the decision process behind which leaders and civs we select to put into the game, discuss why we added the new mix and match feature, outline what's new in Civilization VII, and provide a little bit of a look ahead. Let's get started!
How We Choose Leaders and Civs
The way we choose which leaders and civs to put into the game has evolved over the years, and even more so for Civilization VII. In the old days, the selection process was often pretty loose - a designer might think, "Hey, this could be fun," and that would be all it would take to get them into the game. As the franchise has grown and more players from around the world join the Civ community, we have to rightfully be more thoughtful in which leaders and civs make sense for the game. Typically, we think about leaders and civs along a few criteria:
- Historical prominence. If we ask players to think about history, oftentimes a few civilizations or figures from the past instantly rise to the top. Leaders and empires who left a lasting mark on the world at large are always strong candidates.
- Player representation. Particularly in the last decade, both the community and our ability to connect to players from around the world has grown immensely. Representation is deeply important to many Civ players, especially those that may have been traditionally underrepresented.
- Interesting Gameplay. Naturally, leaders and civs have to be fun to play. We think about people who carved particularly interesting paths through history, and civilizations who have a high potential for unique gameplay.
There are, of course, Personas. Many historical leaders and civilizations had complex, multifaceted histories. We introduced Personas in Civilization VI as a way to acknowledge historical figures who have ties to different civilizations, or those who excelled in two unique and important areas of statecraft. Personas return in Civilization VII with a stronger focus on the latter, as the ability to mix and match leaders and civs inherently covers the former. Every Persona comes fully equipped with their own unique feature set as a leader - a Unique Ability and Agenda, as well as a distinct outfit and background. One example in Civilization VII is Napoleon*, who can be played as either his Emperor** or Revolutionary*** Persona - reflecting the periods of his life during the French Revolution and his subsequent reign as ruler. The last thing I'll note is that leaders and civs aren't selected by a single person or even department here at the studio - it's a wholly collaborative effort across the entire team. We take in considerations from the art team, historians, designers, the community - everyone plays a part in shaping the roster by bringing their unique perspectives. It truly takes a village to bring leaders and civs to life!
Why mix and match?
One of the more notable features in Civilization VII is the ability to mix and match leaders and civs. I mentioned a bit about the rationale above, but wanted to expand a bit more on our thought process. A major reason for adding mix and match was to support Ages. In past games, you always played as the same leader and civ combo through the entire game. With your empire being represented by multiple different civs across a full campaign in Civilization VII, we needed to make sure that players still had a strong cohesive sense of "who" they're playing as, and against. With Ages, we thought about several different approaches on how we could handle civs and leaders. This included the idea of switching leaders per Age, as well as designing in "stacks" where every Civ would be like what we have for India (Maurya, to Chola, to Mughal). Each of these options fell short in different ways. We were convinced that swapping leaders would be particularly confusing to understand who you were playing with. Players often say that they're making alliances or waging war against Cleopatra, Gandhi, or Montezuma - not Egypt, India, or the Aztecs. And if the leader changes mid-game, that narrative inside the player's head is disrupted. In a similar vein, only choosing civilizations that have a full "stack," as in a direct historical lineage, meant that we would have to be greatly limited in who we could consider for Civilization VII. You would only be able to pick civs whose past spans the entirety of history, which means no America. That brings us back to "why mix and match" - and in some sense, why Ages? Through this feature, we're able to make sure you maintain a strong sense of identity for your empire, your friends, and your rivals on the world stage. Creating historical "pathways" instead of a strict empire stack provides significantly more replayability and allows us to represent a more diverse set of cultures. We're able to expand leaders into new categories, shining a spotlight on figures who contributed to humanity in ways many players may be discovering for the first time. And, of course, strategy! Every leader has a unique playstyle, and you'll be able to blend that playstyle with the unique traits of each civilization during the Age.
What's New for Civilization VII?
Now that we've gone through the structural and categorical changes, let's go through the actual components of leaders and civs. As we've mentioned before, every civ is tied to a specific Age, and you get to experience that civ at the height of its power. Each civ comes equipped with a Unique Ability, Unique Infrastructure, a unique Civic Tree, an associated Wonder, Unique Units (both Civilian and Military), and typically a location Starting Bias. Combined together, these nudge the civ into a certain playstyle, categorized across Military, Diplomacy, Expansion, Science, Culture, and Economy.
For example, Han China is an Antiquity Age civilization. As you complete the Han's unique Civic Tree, you can unlock the Guanxi, Jin Qing, and/or Tianxia Traditions - each of these being available to slot into your social policies for your empire in future Ages, regardless of which civ you choose. Han China has a Unique Infrastructure in the Great Wall - a Unique Improvement. In contrast, Rome's Unique Infrastructure comes in the form of their Unique Quarter - the Forum, which is created when combining Rome's two Unique Buildings, the Temple of Jupiter and Basilica, together in a single District. Unique Infrastructure like the Great Wall and the Roman Forum are Ageless, meaning their effects last across all Ages, and you cannot build over these structures. Unique Civilian Units come in different styles as well. Han China's Sh Df is like a mini "Great People" system - each Sh Df provides a different reward, is received only once, and increases in cost. Maya's Jaguar Slayer, on the other hand, replaces the Scout and gives the unit the power to create an invisible trap on Vegetated tiles to damage enemy units and end their movement. Every civ has an associated Wonder, giving them both the ability to unlock that Wonder earlier through their unique Civic Tree and a production bonus when building it. These Wonders are not unique to the civ though; wait too long to build your associated Wonder, and you may find that another player has scooped you! For leaders, each comes packed with a Unique Ability, Agenda, and occasional Starting Bias; again, nudging their playstyle into the above mentioned categories. In Civilization VII, the AI will always pair leaders and civs with their closest ideal choice - typically determined by historical ties or geographical ties. You'll see those options as well in the form of a small portrait icon when starting a new game, but thanks to mix and match functionality you can freely choose which leader and civs you want to pair together. If you're playing more for strategy than historical immersion, you'll typically want to match a leader's playstyle to the civ's playstyle.
Something new to Civilization VII's leaders is the Attribute system. Attributes offer a way to customize your leader further during the course of a game, split into those six categories: Cultural, Diplomatic, Economic, Expansionist, Militaristic, and Scientific. Your leaders and civs have different strengths in these categories, determining the affinity you have toward earning certain Attribute points with gameplay, and you spend these points on attribute Skill Trees that make your leader stronger. For example, Augustus has a strong focus on Culture - so you'll find yourself having more chances to earn Cultural Attribute points. Importantly, Attributes and their bonuses persist across Ages - ensuring that while your empire grows across time, so too does your leader! Attribute points can be earned across a wide variety of gameplay actions - building certain Wonders, researching certain Civics, completing narrative events, and as rewards for finishing milestones along Victory Paths.
A Look Ahead
Leaders and civs are a crucial element to the Civilization franchise, and I'm incredibly excited for players to experience each of them in Civilization VII. Through Ages and features like civ swapping and mix & match, we're able to go wider and deeper with civs and leaders than ever before. Ed shared that we'll have the most civs at launch and the story is the same with leaders; together with our additional leader Personas, Civilization VII will launch with the most leader selections we've ever had in franchise history! For a look ahead on the next Dev Diary, we're going to be tackling a topic that core Civ fans have been dying to know more information about: empire management. We'll be detailing everything from how cities work, populations, yields, what a "warehouse" building is, overbuilding, and more. If you have any questions, please continue to share your feedback and thoughts across our social media channels. As always, thanks for being the best fans in gaming. *Napoleon leader not included in the base game. **Napoleon (Emperor) is available as bonus content for players that link a 2K Account to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here. ***Napoleon (Revolutionary) is available as bonus content for players that link the same 2K Account to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here.
[ 2024-10-08 16:02:08 CET ] [ Original post ]
We want to hear your thoughts on Civ VII!
[ 2024-10-04 19:04:36 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey everyone - your Firaxis CM here with a favor to ask. We've been taking in all the feedback and conversations you've been having around Civ VII - and whether you're ready for February or still deciding if you'll dive in, we want to hear from you. We've put together a short survey to help us keep improving Civ VII. You can fill it out here. We know our Civ players have been with us through countless turns, and your feedback has always been a big part of what shapes the game. Thanks for being a part of this incredible community and sharing your thoughts with the team! - Sar
[ 2024-10-04 19:04:36 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Tecumseh, Khmer Civ, and more!
We released our First Look video for Tecumseh and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities! [previewyoutube=jtqi0ZFJd8M;full][/previewyoutube]
We also recently updated the Civ Game Guide with details about the Antiquity Age civ Khmer! To see all the civs we revealed so far, check out the Game Guide here.
Were returning with a special episode of Civ Streams! Our devs will sit down with Shawnee guests, Chief Barnes and Karl Meyer, to explore Tecumsehs legacy and the rich history of the Shawnee. Join us on October 8 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel for an inside look. Full livestream details here.
Check out the full list of PC system requirements for Sid Meier's Civilization VII here.
Get ready for another Leader, Civ, and Developer Diary coming your way next week stay tuned to the official Civilization channels for all the details! Plus, dont miss a PAX Australia developer panel on Oct 11, streaming live on Twitch.tv/PAX at 11AM AEST / 6PM PT / 9PM GMT / 2AM CEST. Full details on the panel here. We hope to see you there!
[ 2024-10-04 17:11:53 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
First Look: Tecumseh
We released our First Look video for Tecumseh and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities! [previewyoutube=jtqi0ZFJd8M;full][/previewyoutube]
Civ Reveal: Khmer
We also recently updated the Civ Game Guide with details about the Antiquity Age civ Khmer! To see all the civs we revealed so far, check out the Game Guide here.
Stay tuned for a dev livestream on Oct 8!
Were returning with a special episode of Civ Streams! Our devs will sit down with Shawnee guests, Chief Barnes and Karl Meyer, to explore Tecumsehs legacy and the rich history of the Shawnee. Join us on October 8 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel for an inside look. Full livestream details here.
PC System Requirements
Check out the full list of PC system requirements for Sid Meier's Civilization VII here.
What to expect next week!
Get ready for another Leader, Civ, and Developer Diary coming your way next week stay tuned to the official Civilization channels for all the details! Plus, dont miss a PAX Australia developer panel on Oct 11, streaming live on Twitch.tv/PAX at 11AM AEST / 6PM PT / 9PM GMT / 2AM CEST. Full details on the panel here. We hope to see you there!
[ 2024-10-04 17:11:53 CET ] [ Original post ]
Sid Meier's Civilization VII Minimum and Recommended PC Specs
[ 2024-10-03 16:00:43 CET ] [ Original post ]
We've just updated the Steam page for Sid Meier's Civilization VII with Minimum and Recommended PC specs, which are provided below along with an Ultra spec for 4K 60 FPS gameplay. Make sure your rig is ready to take one more turn when Civilization VII launches on February 11, 2025!
MINIMUM:
Graphics Preset: Low
Resolution: 1080p
FPS: 30 FPS
Requires a 64-Bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i3-10100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon RX 460 / Intel Arc A380
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 20 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
Graphics Preset: Medium
Resolution: 1080p
FPS: 60 FPS
Requires a 64-Bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
Processor: Intel i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600 / Intel Arc A750
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 20 GB available space
ULTRA:
Graphics Preset: High
Resolution: 4K
FPS: 60 FPS
Requires a 64-Bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
Processor: Intel i7-14700F / AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Memory: 32 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 / AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 20 GB available space
[ 2024-10-03 16:00:43 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civ Streams | Tecumseh featuring Shawnee Special Guests
[ 2024-10-02 16:00:31 CET ] [ Original post ]
In honor of Tecumseh Memorial Day on October 5, were returning with a special episode of Civ Streams! Our devs will sit down with Shawnee guests, Chief Barnes and Karl Meyer, to explore Tecumsehs legacy and the rich history of the Shawnee. Join us on October 8 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 5PM GMT over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel for an inside look into how Tecumsehs leadership and the Shawnee people are woven into the world of Civ VII, in close collaboration with the Shawnee Nation. Well also be discussing Tecumsehs First Look and showcasing Civ VII gameplay featuring Tecumseh and the Shawnee civ in action.* While youll get a first glimpse of the Exploration Age, the heart of this stream will cover the process of bringing a civilization to life through discussions with members of the Shawnee Nation themselves. Keep an eye out for news on the next livestream where well dive deeper into the Exploration Age and its unique mechanics! Be sure to tune-in on October 8, and then check out new updates to the official Civilization VII website after the livestream ends. Well see you there! *Tecumseh leader and Shawnee civilization are part of the Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack DLC. The Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack is included in the Deluxe and Founders Editions of Civilization VII. It is not included in the Standard Edition of Civilization VII, but is available as a bonus offer for pre-orders of the Standard Edition until February 11, 2025, and will be available for separate purchase thereafter. Internet connection required to redeem bonus content. Terms apply.
[ 2024-10-02 16:00:31 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Confucius & Han Civ
We released our First Look video for Confucius and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities! [previewyoutube=pfTUZchEfaA;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
We also recently updated the Civ Game Guide with details about the Antiquity Age civ Han! To see all the civs we revealed so far, check out the Game Guide here.
Were headed to PAX Australia for a developer panel on Saturday, October 11! You can find more details here. If you cant join us in person, be sure to watch online at Twitch.tv/PAX at 11AM AEST / 6PM PT / 9PM GMT / 2AM CEST.
Well have another Leader and Civ deep-dive next week, so stay tuned to the official Civilization channels!
[ 2024-09-27 16:00:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
In case you missed it, heres another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:
First Look: Confucius
We released our First Look video for Confucius and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities! [previewyoutube=pfTUZchEfaA;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
Civ Reveal: Han
We also recently updated the Civ Game Guide with details about the Antiquity Age civ Han! To see all the civs we revealed so far, check out the Game Guide here.
Were coming to PAX Australia!
Were headed to PAX Australia for a developer panel on Saturday, October 11! You can find more details here. If you cant join us in person, be sure to watch online at Twitch.tv/PAX at 11AM AEST / 6PM PT / 9PM GMT / 2AM CEST.
What to expect next week!
Well have another Leader and Civ deep-dive next week, so stay tuned to the official Civilization channels!
[ 2024-09-27 16:00:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
This Week in Civ: Augustus, Greece, and more!
We released our First Look Video for Augustus and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=UDBQP7S8w-E;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
Learn all about Antiquity Age civ Greece in our latest Game Guide entry! Be sure to check out the rest of the Game Guide for more information on all the other civs weve revealed to date as well.
ICYMI, heres a quick recap of everything weve shared since we first showed gameplay on August 20: Gameplay Reveal Trailer Narrator Reveal: Gwendoline Christie Gameplay Showcase [url=https://www.youtube.com/live/JjUdkPW3zLg?si=CsrZ4MfQNLeZTtv6]Antiquity Age Livestream Hatshepsut First Look Dev Diary #1: Ages Weve got so much more to share in the coming months, so stay tuned and stay civilized!
[ 2024-09-20 16:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey Civ fans! Sarah, your Firaxis community manager here, kicking off a weekly roundup of Civilization VII news. Here are the recent reveals to check out:
First Look: Augustus
We released our First Look Video for Augustus and added a new Game Guide entry to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities. [previewyoutube=UDBQP7S8w-E;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
Civ Reveal: Greece
Learn all about Antiquity Age civ Greece in our latest Game Guide entry! Be sure to check out the rest of the Game Guide for more information on all the other civs weve revealed to date as well.
Since the Gameplay Reveal:
ICYMI, heres a quick recap of everything weve shared since we first showed gameplay on August 20: Gameplay Reveal Trailer Narrator Reveal: Gwendoline Christie Gameplay Showcase [url=https://www.youtube.com/live/JjUdkPW3zLg?si=CsrZ4MfQNLeZTtv6]Antiquity Age Livestream Hatshepsut First Look Dev Diary #1: Ages Weve got so much more to share in the coming months, so stay tuned and stay civilized!
[ 2024-09-20 16:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Dev Diary #1: Ages
As we've talked about before, Ages represent a significant gameplay evolution for Civilization - one as big as when we moved from squares to hexes. Fundamentally, Ages divides a single game of Civilization into distinct playable chapters. Every Age is designed to capture the essence of a specific period of human advancement, achieved by filling the Age with historically-relevant elements. And as you go from one Age to the next, your empire evolves - you select a new civilization that comes equipped with a fresh set of bonuses, units, and buildings. This new civilization carries forward key elements of your past and by the end of a campaign, you'll have created a unique cultural lineage through history in your journey to build an empire to stand the test of time. This journey through the Ages is a new experience that we've never had before in Civilization; the idea of building a unique cultural lineage, as opposed to your empire being represented by a single civ across all of time. If you're interested in learning about the creative driving force behind Ages - the idea that "history is built in layers" - I encourage you to check out our dev panel discussion at PAX West. For this particular blog, I want to talk about Ages from more of a 'game mechanics and design' perspective.
When my team of designers and I first sat down to brainstorm ideas for Civilization VII, we started by taking an honest look at Civilization VI. I tasked everyone to build a list of what they'd like to improve on, and come back together to compare notes. At Firaxis, we've always said that we are our own harshest critics, but even I was surprised at how critical the designers were. No stone was left unturned, and as we looked through our feedback, one particular issue kept coming back over and over again: late-game Civilization is just not that fun to play. In order to tackle that issue, we needed to break that thought down into a few specific root causes. Here are the main things we identified:
It might surprise you to know that from our playtests and feedback, the actual experience of playing an Age in Civilization VII feels very familiar to a traditional game of Civ. As many of our fans know, Sid Meier has a rule of thirds when designing a sequel: 33 percent brand new features, 33 percent improving previous features, and 33 percent staying roughly the same. We're continuing that tradition with Civilization VII, as it is critical for us that this game "still feels like Civ." Each Age is, in some sense, like playing a tighter, more focused campaign of Civ. Just like before, you'll build your capital, discover the lands around you, find resources, and cooperate (or compete) with your fellow civs. What's different this time around is that every Age has a set of key elements that are unique to that Age, which include:
A full campaign in Civilization VII is one that goes through all three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Once the Age is completed, all players (and any AI opponents) experience an Age Transition simultaneously. During an Age Transition, three things happen: you select a new civilization from the new Age to represent your empire, you choose which Legacies you want to retain in the new Age, and the game world evolves in ways both big and small. When it comes to selecting a new civilization in the new Age, you won't be able to choose just any new civ at random. There are three factors that determine your options. First, if there is a historical or geographical connection between the past civ and the future one, you'll have a choice that's more rooted in history. Some examples we've shared so far include Antiquity Egypt to Exploration Abbasid, as well as Maurya India to Chola India.
Second, certain leaders will automatically unlock certain civs due to their particularly strong identities. Choosing Himiko, for example, means that you will always be able to play as Meiji Japan in the Modern Age.
Finally, gameplay actions that you take can unlock non-historical paths. This is something that we know the Civ community has discussed at length - we definitely enjoyed your reactions (and memes) to the idea of Egypt "turning into" Mongolia! With that said, we wanted to include this option for many reasons. First, we think it's fun and that it reflects Civ's "What if?" spirit of experimentation. Second, we wanted to provide players the possibility of making dramatic strategy changes, especially if they aren't as focused on playing historically. If you do find yourself surrounded by horses, wouldn't it be interesting if rather than going across the great oceans during the Exploration Age - you used Mongolia's powerful cavalry to sweep the home continent? Finally, we think it reflects some of the core ideas behind "history is built in layers." The notion that our history is just one of many possible paths, that civilizations are ultimately shaped and determined by their people.
After selecting your new civilization, you'll then pick and choose which Legacies you want to carry forward in the new Age. Legacies can only be selected if you have earned enough Legacy Points to acquire them, the latter which are obtained primarily through completing those milestones in Legacy Paths. For example, completing a milestone in the Science path gives you a Science point, which can be used to grab a Science Legacy in the next Age. Legacies come in a variety of different costs and bonuses. Some Legacies are easily acquired - Leader Attributes only cost one point and can be grabbed in bulk. Others are more expensive and may require prerequisite accomplishments, like the Golden Age Legacies mentioned earlier. One Legacy that I like in particular is Change Capital - it's free, and is strategically useful for moving your inland capital to one of your settlements along a coast, as you prepare to take on the challenges and strategic opportunities of a new Age. Once you select your new civ and legacies and the new Age begins, your game world undergoes a series of changes across the board. All civilizations begin anew with an updated Civics and Technology Tree. New resources fill the map, and the world expands. From Antiquity to Exploration, you'll be able to research shipbuilding to cross great oceans and reach Distant Lands which, it turns out, are already occupied with other undiscovered civilizations who may not welcome your presence! You'll be able to "overbuild" - construct new buildings on top of your old ones, which have reduced yields as they're less powerful in the new Age. New Legacy Paths present you with updated objectives and new game systems can come online; Religion, which plays a minor role in the Antiquity Age, becomes an essential driver of action during the Exploration Age. With a new civilization in hand and so much of the world changing, it naturally raises a question - how do we make sure you maintain a cohesive sense of identity for your empire? This is something that we've spent the most time tweaking and fine-tuning, and I'm sure we'll continue to make adjustments once players get their hands on the game. There are several things that help retain your sense of identity: Leaders remain the same across Ages. Leaders persist across all Ages, ensuring you always have a sense of who is part of your empire, and who are your rivals. Relationships that you develop persist, and Leaders continue to grow by leveling up their attributes. It also helps lend a sense of personal storytelling to each campaign, as you decide which of the other leaders deserve to be your cherished allies or bitter enemies across the Ages.
Age Transitions represent moments of possibility in a game of Civilization VII. If you find yourself falling too far behind, an Age Transition will offer you a way to get back into the game. You can double down on a preferred playstyle or pivot to a completely different civ if you find yourself outmatched in certain parts of the game. Snowballing into an unstoppable juggernaut is no longer as obvious an outcome, but we want to make sure that you're still rewarded for playing well through an abundance of Legacy Points, Golden Age options, and more.
With Ages, we set out to create a system that not just solves some of the longstanding issues we've wanted to tackle, but also presents you with something new. Something that offers a fresh take on Civ - to make the game more dynamic, inviting and exciting. With Ages, we're able to reach new levels when it comes to historical immersion. We tailor the content specifically for that Age, and you compete with fellow empires all at the height of their powers. We can provide a deeper and richer experience, where your unique units and abilities are all more immediately available. And by design, Ages already come with plenty of features - there's less of a need to wait for an expansion like in the past. We can't wait for you to experience this new structure for yourself. Building Civilization VII with Ages as our core concept has completely shifted how we approach making a Civ game - we've had to greatly expand the total number of civs, making this the most civilizations in the base game at launch in franchise history! We're really excited for what's to come in Civilization VII, and what the future looks like for the game over the long term. Thanks for reading - if you have any questions, please continue to share them in forums, on Reddit, and across our social media channels!
[ 2024-09-12 20:37:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey all! I'm Sarah (or Sar), your community manager for Sid Meier's Civilization VII, and I'm super excited to announce that well be rolling out a series of developer blogs in the coming months! These blogs are written by members of the Firaxis dev team and are tailored specifically for our Civilization community. Well be diving deep into the details that make Civilization VII so special, so if you love getting into the nitty-gritty, these are for you!
Today's blog will cover Ages - our biggest new feature in Civilization VII, written by creative director Ed Beach. As always, Im here for any questions or feedback youve got. Along with today's Dev Diary, we also hosted the first Civ Streams developer livestream for The Antiquity Age, and updated the Civilization VII Game Guide with pages for the leader Hatshepsut (including a First Look video) and the Greece civilization. We'll be showing off more leaders in the coming weeks, each accompanied by a First Look video that gives an overview of their general playstyle and tactical strengths! As we continue to build out the Game Guide with more reveals of leaders and civs, you'll get a better sense of how the Unique Ability of each leader can synergize with the different civs' Unique Ability, Civic Trees, Unique Units, and more.
Now, on to Dev Diary #1: Ages. Happy reading!
Hello, Civ fans! My name is Ed Beach, Creative Director on Sid Meier's Civilization VII at Firaxis Games. I'm excited to kick off our series of developer blogs on a topic I know the community has been discussing about in great detail: Ages. My goal is to provide you with an overview of how Ages work, and share some of the thinking on why we decided to implement this system in the first place. I'll also be providing greater detail in areas the community has had some questions on, such as the mechanics of how we handle Age Transitions to ensure your journey through the Ages feels epic and fun.
Introducing Ages
As we've talked about before, Ages represent a significant gameplay evolution for Civilization - one as big as when we moved from squares to hexes. Fundamentally, Ages divides a single game of Civilization into distinct playable chapters. Every Age is designed to capture the essence of a specific period of human advancement, achieved by filling the Age with historically-relevant elements. And as you go from one Age to the next, your empire evolves - you select a new civilization that comes equipped with a fresh set of bonuses, units, and buildings. This new civilization carries forward key elements of your past and by the end of a campaign, you'll have created a unique cultural lineage through history in your journey to build an empire to stand the test of time. This journey through the Ages is a new experience that we've never had before in Civilization; the idea of building a unique cultural lineage, as opposed to your empire being represented by a single civ across all of time. If you're interested in learning about the creative driving force behind Ages - the idea that "history is built in layers" - I encourage you to check out our dev panel discussion at PAX West. For this particular blog, I want to talk about Ages from more of a 'game mechanics and design' perspective.
Why Ages?
When my team of designers and I first sat down to brainstorm ideas for Civilization VII, we started by taking an honest look at Civilization VI. I tasked everyone to build a list of what they'd like to improve on, and come back together to compare notes. At Firaxis, we've always said that we are our own harshest critics, but even I was surprised at how critical the designers were. No stone was left unturned, and as we looked through our feedback, one particular issue kept coming back over and over again: late-game Civilization is just not that fun to play. In order to tackle that issue, we needed to break that thought down into a few specific root causes. Here are the main things we identified:
- Snowballing. Snowballing refers to when you start with something small, it gathers momentum, and then it becomes unstoppable. In Civ, this is expressed when your empire advances too fast for your opponents to catch up, or you've fallen behind so far that you can't catch up. In both scenarios, your choices and decisions have little effect on the ultimate outcome.
- Lots of micromanagement. Civilization, like many 4X games, can be mapped onto a simple linear graph - as time increases, the amount of actions you have to take increases. This is manageable in the first few hours - what many players feel is the most fun - where you have a few cities, some builders, and a small army. But the more you play, the bigger your empire gets, and suddenly you are making decisions for dozens of cities, moving dozens of units one by one, etc. This is both tedious to the player and makes every decision feel less important.
- Civ balancing. Civ designs draw inspiration from historical events and cultures, so their unique abilities, units, and buildings must be both relevant to their identity while also being balanced across a game that spans all of history. Because of this, every civ is strong at a particular point in the game, but can be generic during other points. What's interesting is that due to snowballing, competitive Civ players rarely pick late-game civs, because by the time those abilities and units come online, someone has built up an insurmountable lead.
Playing the Age
It might surprise you to know that from our playtests and feedback, the actual experience of playing an Age in Civilization VII feels very familiar to a traditional game of Civ. As many of our fans know, Sid Meier has a rule of thirds when designing a sequel: 33 percent brand new features, 33 percent improving previous features, and 33 percent staying roughly the same. We're continuing that tradition with Civilization VII, as it is critical for us that this game "still feels like Civ." Each Age is, in some sense, like playing a tighter, more focused campaign of Civ. Just like before, you'll build your capital, discover the lands around you, find resources, and cooperate (or compete) with your fellow civs. What's different this time around is that every Age has a set of key elements that are unique to that Age, which include:
- Civilizations: Civilizations are Age-exclusive, and come equipped with Unique Abilities, Units, Civics, and Buildings and/or Improvements. The unique parts of each civilization are always relevant in that Age, and thus make each Civ feel like they're competing at the height of their power.
- Resources: Each Age contains a set of obtainable Resources on the map that were available during that time period. Some Resources span multiple Ages, while others are exclusive to an individual Age.
- Civics and Technologies: Ages determine which Civics and Technologies can be researched.
- Buildings and Units: Available types of Units, Buildings, and Wonders are determined by the Age.
- Independent Powers: Independent Powers are minor factions on the map that can be interacted with.
- Game Systems: Certain game systems are only available during each Age, ensuring every Age feels unique and exciting to engage with.
- Playable Map Area: Ages determine the overall size and scope of the playable map, expanding as the player transitions into new Ages.
Age Transitions
A full campaign in Civilization VII is one that goes through all three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Once the Age is completed, all players (and any AI opponents) experience an Age Transition simultaneously. During an Age Transition, three things happen: you select a new civilization from the new Age to represent your empire, you choose which Legacies you want to retain in the new Age, and the game world evolves in ways both big and small. When it comes to selecting a new civilization in the new Age, you won't be able to choose just any new civ at random. There are three factors that determine your options. First, if there is a historical or geographical connection between the past civ and the future one, you'll have a choice that's more rooted in history. Some examples we've shared so far include Antiquity Egypt to Exploration Abbasid, as well as Maurya India to Chola India.
Second, certain leaders will automatically unlock certain civs due to their particularly strong identities. Choosing Himiko, for example, means that you will always be able to play as Meiji Japan in the Modern Age.
Finally, gameplay actions that you take can unlock non-historical paths. This is something that we know the Civ community has discussed at length - we definitely enjoyed your reactions (and memes) to the idea of Egypt "turning into" Mongolia! With that said, we wanted to include this option for many reasons. First, we think it's fun and that it reflects Civ's "What if?" spirit of experimentation. Second, we wanted to provide players the possibility of making dramatic strategy changes, especially if they aren't as focused on playing historically. If you do find yourself surrounded by horses, wouldn't it be interesting if rather than going across the great oceans during the Exploration Age - you used Mongolia's powerful cavalry to sweep the home continent? Finally, we think it reflects some of the core ideas behind "history is built in layers." The notion that our history is just one of many possible paths, that civilizations are ultimately shaped and determined by their people.
After selecting your new civilization, you'll then pick and choose which Legacies you want to carry forward in the new Age. Legacies can only be selected if you have earned enough Legacy Points to acquire them, the latter which are obtained primarily through completing those milestones in Legacy Paths. For example, completing a milestone in the Science path gives you a Science point, which can be used to grab a Science Legacy in the next Age. Legacies come in a variety of different costs and bonuses. Some Legacies are easily acquired - Leader Attributes only cost one point and can be grabbed in bulk. Others are more expensive and may require prerequisite accomplishments, like the Golden Age Legacies mentioned earlier. One Legacy that I like in particular is Change Capital - it's free, and is strategically useful for moving your inland capital to one of your settlements along a coast, as you prepare to take on the challenges and strategic opportunities of a new Age. Once you select your new civ and legacies and the new Age begins, your game world undergoes a series of changes across the board. All civilizations begin anew with an updated Civics and Technology Tree. New resources fill the map, and the world expands. From Antiquity to Exploration, you'll be able to research shipbuilding to cross great oceans and reach Distant Lands which, it turns out, are already occupied with other undiscovered civilizations who may not welcome your presence! You'll be able to "overbuild" - construct new buildings on top of your old ones, which have reduced yields as they're less powerful in the new Age. New Legacy Paths present you with updated objectives and new game systems can come online; Religion, which plays a minor role in the Antiquity Age, becomes an essential driver of action during the Exploration Age. With a new civilization in hand and so much of the world changing, it naturally raises a question - how do we make sure you maintain a cohesive sense of identity for your empire? This is something that we've spent the most time tweaking and fine-tuning, and I'm sure we'll continue to make adjustments once players get their hands on the game. There are several things that help retain your sense of identity: Leaders remain the same across Ages. Leaders persist across all Ages, ensuring you always have a sense of who is part of your empire, and who are your rivals. Relationships that you develop persist, and Leaders continue to grow by leveling up their attributes. It also helps lend a sense of personal storytelling to each campaign, as you decide which of the other leaders deserve to be your cherished allies or bitter enemies across the Ages.
- Traditions are always available. Investing in a civ's exclusive Civics tree unlocks Traditions: social policies that can be used in any Age. In the Modern Age, it's entirely up to you whether you want to slot all your social policies with Traditions - and some leaders have bonuses for doing so!
- Ageless buildings. Some buildings are so essential that they cannot be replaced. Any Wonders you've built will always remain on the map, as well as any unique Quarters you've constructed.
- Commanders persist. Commanders are particularly powerful and impactful units, gaining levels as they survey the battlefield. Your investments in these units will pay off in the long run, as all Commander attributes and experience continue across Ages.
Age Transitions represent moments of possibility in a game of Civilization VII. If you find yourself falling too far behind, an Age Transition will offer you a way to get back into the game. You can double down on a preferred playstyle or pivot to a completely different civ if you find yourself outmatched in certain parts of the game. Snowballing into an unstoppable juggernaut is no longer as obvious an outcome, but we want to make sure that you're still rewarded for playing well through an abundance of Legacy Points, Golden Age options, and more.
Future Potential
With Ages, we set out to create a system that not just solves some of the longstanding issues we've wanted to tackle, but also presents you with something new. Something that offers a fresh take on Civ - to make the game more dynamic, inviting and exciting. With Ages, we're able to reach new levels when it comes to historical immersion. We tailor the content specifically for that Age, and you compete with fellow empires all at the height of their powers. We can provide a deeper and richer experience, where your unique units and abilities are all more immediately available. And by design, Ages already come with plenty of features - there's less of a need to wait for an expansion like in the past. We can't wait for you to experience this new structure for yourself. Building Civilization VII with Ages as our core concept has completely shifted how we approach making a Civ game - we've had to greatly expand the total number of civs, making this the most civilizations in the base game at launch in franchise history! We're really excited for what's to come in Civilization VII, and what the future looks like for the game over the long term. Thanks for reading - if you have any questions, please continue to share them in forums, on Reddit, and across our social media channels!
[ 2024-09-12 20:37:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Civilization VII Developer Livestream: September 12 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET
[ 2024-09-06 18:25:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
Now that we've shared the Gameplay Reveal trailer for Sid Meier's Civilization VII, we want to give you a closer look at the finer details of Civilization VII with the Civ Streams series of developer livestreamsand the first one, Civ Streams: The Antiquity Age, is happening on September 12 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET over on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel! We'll be debuting the "First Look" video for Hatshepsut to kick off our series of Civilization VII leader videos, and give you a closer look at live gameplay of The Antiquity Agethe first of the three Ages in Civilization VII. We'll also share more details about how you'll build an empire that will last through the Ages, and, and answer questions from the community! Be sure to tune-in on September 12 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, then check out new updates to the official Civilization VII website on September 12 after the livestream concludes!
[ 2024-09-06 18:25:38 CET ] [ Original post ]
History is Built in Layers Developer Panel
[previewyoutube=0JNE1iPX7eI;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
[ 2024-09-03 20:30:03 CET ] [ Original post ]
In a recent developer panel from PAX West, four key members of the Firaxis development team discuss the design inspiration behind Civilization VII: "History is Built in Layers". Catch the live discussion where the devs dive into Ages, art directions, new Civs, and more!
Watch the panel here:
[previewyoutube=0JNE1iPX7eI;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]
[ 2024-09-03 20:30:03 CET ] [ Original post ]
Watch the Civilization VII PAX West Panel at 11AM PT on August 31
[ 2024-08-29 17:00:13 CET ] [ Original post ]
We'll be heading over to PAX West in Seattle and hope to see you there! On August 31, Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller will host our developer panel, where we'll share new insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the creation of Civilization VII. For those attending in-person, we'll be located in the Main Theater on the 5th floor of the Summit Building. Viewers at home can watch live on Twitch.tv/PAX at 11:00 AM PT. Catch you in the Emerald City!
[ 2024-08-29 17:00:13 CET ] [ Original post ]
Sid Meier's Civilization VII Gameplay Revealed; Pre-Order Now
Alongside Civilization VII pre-orders going live, we revealed the first look at Civilization VII gameplay during Gamescom Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley. Feast your eyes on the first-ever look at gameplay for this revolutionary new chapter in the Civilization series. [previewyoutube=Tc3_EO6Bj2M;full][/previewyoutube]
Following the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation, we gave you an in-depth look at Civilization VII's finer details with the Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel. The showcase opens with a stirring live-action trailer starring Civilization VII's narrator: legendary actress Gwendoline Christie. The Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase has over 20 minutes of exclusive insights from the Firaxis development team, covering the vision for the game as well as its innovative new features. If you missed it, you can watch a VOD of the Gameplay Showcase above to soak up all the newly debuted game details!
In the lead-up to the launch of Civilization VII on February 11, 2025, we'll be revealing more information about the game's leaders, civilizations, and gameplay mechanics via the Civilization VII Game Guide! Think of the Game Guide as your go-to hub for all things Civilization VII, with constant updates planned for the coming weeks and months. Knowledge is power, and the information in the Civilization VII Game Guide can help you prepare to build your perfect empire and determine which leaders and civilizations could best suit your preferred playstyle. Alongside today's new trailers, we've just revealed the Civilization VII Game Guide pages for the Aksum, Egypt, Maurya, Maya, Rome, and Shawnee civilizations. You'll also find high-level overviews of how Ages in Civilization VII shape some of its biggest gameplay innovations, as well as more details on how leaders and civilizations in Civilization VII can be chosen separately for the first time in franchise history.
Creating and authenticating a 2K Account lets you sign up for newsletters and digital marketing from 2K so you don't miss the latest Civilization VII reveals! By linking your 2K Account, you'll also collect in-game rewards in Civilization VII when it launches, including the leader Napoleon Bonaparte with his Emperor Persona!** Don't have a 2K Account? Create one and subscribe! As a special thank you for Civilization VI players, everyone who's played both Civilization VI and Civilization VII with a linked 2K Account can add Napoleon Bonaparte with his Revolutionary Persona to their leader lineup in Civilization VII at launch!*** For full details and instructions, visit the 2K Account Benefits page.
If you're attending Gamescom in-person from August 21 to 25, be sure to stop by the Civilization VII booth located in Hall 6! Next up, we'll be heading to PAX West in Seattle. On August 31, Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller will host our developer panel, where we'll share new insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the creation of Civilization VII. We'll be located in the Main Theater on the 5th floor of the Summit Building; hope to see you in the Emerald City! We've got lots of exciting Civilization VII reveals and events lined up in the coming months, so be sure to stay tuned to the Civilization social channels for all the latest updates! *Pre-order offer available until February 11, 2025. Internet connection required to redeem bonus content. For digital pre-orders, items will be automatically entitled in-game. For physical pre-orders, items will be delivered via code in box to be redeemed in game. Terms apply. **Requires an internet connection, and a 2K Account linked to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. ***Requires an internet connection, and the same 2K Account linked to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
[ 2024-08-20 22:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Get ready to build something you believe in when Sid Meier's Civilization VII launches on February 11, 2025! You can pre-order Civilization VII now, with three editions to choose from: Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, and the limited-time Founders Edition that's only available until February 28, 2025. For full details on what's included in each edition, visit the Civilization VII Buy page or the Civilization VII FAQs page! Pre-ordering Civilization VII Standard Edition will grant you the Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack!* The Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack is included as part of the Deluxe Edition and Founders Edition. In addition, the Deluxe Edition and Founders Edition will grant early access for Civilization VII beginning on February 6, 2025. You can also show the world your affinity for Civilization with the Sid Meier's Civilization VII Collector's Edition, featuring a premium set of physical collectibles themed around Civilization VII! For more info, visit the Sid Meier's Civilization VII Collector's Edition store page. Note that the Collector's Edition does not include a copy of the game by default, but can be purchased as a bundle with a Steam key for Founders Edition. [previewyoutube=kK_JrrP9m2U;full][/previewyoutube]
Civilization VII Gameplay Trailer
Alongside Civilization VII pre-orders going live, we revealed the first look at Civilization VII gameplay during Gamescom Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley. Feast your eyes on the first-ever look at gameplay for this revolutionary new chapter in the Civilization series. [previewyoutube=Tc3_EO6Bj2M;full][/previewyoutube]
Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase
Following the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation, we gave you an in-depth look at Civilization VII's finer details with the Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase on the Firaxis Games Twitch channel. The showcase opens with a stirring live-action trailer starring Civilization VII's narrator: legendary actress Gwendoline Christie. The Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase has over 20 minutes of exclusive insights from the Firaxis development team, covering the vision for the game as well as its innovative new features. If you missed it, you can watch a VOD of the Gameplay Showcase above to soak up all the newly debuted game details!
Civilization VII Game Guide
In the lead-up to the launch of Civilization VII on February 11, 2025, we'll be revealing more information about the game's leaders, civilizations, and gameplay mechanics via the Civilization VII Game Guide! Think of the Game Guide as your go-to hub for all things Civilization VII, with constant updates planned for the coming weeks and months. Knowledge is power, and the information in the Civilization VII Game Guide can help you prepare to build your perfect empire and determine which leaders and civilizations could best suit your preferred playstyle. Alongside today's new trailers, we've just revealed the Civilization VII Game Guide pages for the Aksum, Egypt, Maurya, Maya, Rome, and Shawnee civilizations. You'll also find high-level overviews of how Ages in Civilization VII shape some of its biggest gameplay innovations, as well as more details on how leaders and civilizations in Civilization VII can be chosen separately for the first time in franchise history.
2K Account benefits for Civilization VII
Creating and authenticating a 2K Account lets you sign up for newsletters and digital marketing from 2K so you don't miss the latest Civilization VII reveals! By linking your 2K Account, you'll also collect in-game rewards in Civilization VII when it launches, including the leader Napoleon Bonaparte with his Emperor Persona!** Don't have a 2K Account? Create one and subscribe! As a special thank you for Civilization VI players, everyone who's played both Civilization VI and Civilization VII with a linked 2K Account can add Napoleon Bonaparte with his Revolutionary Persona to their leader lineup in Civilization VII at launch!*** For full details and instructions, visit the 2K Account Benefits page.
Upcoming Civilization VII events
If you're attending Gamescom in-person from August 21 to 25, be sure to stop by the Civilization VII booth located in Hall 6! Next up, we'll be heading to PAX West in Seattle. On August 31, Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller will host our developer panel, where we'll share new insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the creation of Civilization VII. We'll be located in the Main Theater on the 5th floor of the Summit Building; hope to see you in the Emerald City! We've got lots of exciting Civilization VII reveals and events lined up in the coming months, so be sure to stay tuned to the Civilization social channels for all the latest updates! *Pre-order offer available until February 11, 2025. Internet connection required to redeem bonus content. For digital pre-orders, items will be automatically entitled in-game. For physical pre-orders, items will be delivered via code in box to be redeemed in game. Terms apply. **Requires an internet connection, and a 2K Account linked to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. ***Requires an internet connection, and the same 2K Account linked to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
[ 2024-08-20 22:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Watch the Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase on August 20
[ 2024-08-15 16:00:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
After Opening Night Live, tune in here on Steam or visit Twitch.tv/FiraxisGames at 1:30 PM PT / 10:30 PM CEST to watch our official Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase! For more than 20 minutes, we'll share exclusive insights from the development team about this revolutionary new chapter in the franchise, including our vision for the game as well as its innovative new features. For a one-stop shop on everything Civilization VII, you'll definitely want to catch this one live!
[ 2024-08-15 16:00:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Sid Meier's Civilization VII - Gameplay Showcase Coming August 20
[ 2024-08-01 16:01:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
Greetings Civ Fans! Since we announced Sid Meier's Civilization VII back in June, the entire team at Firaxis Games has been delighted to see the excitement and passion shared throughout the Civ community. We promised that your first look at gameplay would be coming in August, and now we want to provide some details on what you can expect. Civilization is a game that is as wide as it is deep, covering the span of human history as you build your empire piece by piece in the attempt to stand the test of time. We know many of you love getting into the details, and we do too - that's why we're going all-out for the gameplay reveal coming later this month. First, mark your calendars for August 20, 2024! We're excited to be part of Gamescom Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley, where we'll debut our gameplay trailer for Civilization VII. This will be the first time the world sees Civilization VII in motion, and you won't want to miss it. Make sure you tune-in at Twitch.tv/gamescom at 11:00 AM PT / 8:00 PM CEST to watch Opening Night Live as it airs. After Opening Night Live, visit Twitch.tv/FiraxisGames at 1:30 PM PT / 10:30 PM CEST to watch our official Civilization VII Gameplay Showcase! For more than 20 minutes, we'll share exclusive insights from the development team about this revolutionary new chapter in the franchise, including our vision for the game as well as its innovative new features. For a one-stop shop on everything Civilization VII, you'll definitely want to catch this one live! But thats just the start! From August 21 to 25, attendees at Gamescom should be sure to stop by the Civilization VII booth located in Hall 6. Finally, we'll be heading over to PAX West in Seattle and hope to see you there! On August 31, Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller will host our developer panel, where we'll share new insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the creation of Civilization VII. For those attending in-person, we'll be located in the Main Theater on the 5th floor of the Summit Building. Viewers at home can watch live on Twitch.tv/PAX at 11:00 AM PT. Catch you in the Emerald City! August is just the first step in our journey. Thank you for being the best fans in the world. We can't wait to show you Civilization VII and take one more turn together. -The Firaxis Development Team
[ 2024-08-01 16:01:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
Sid Meiers Civilization VII coming 2025
[ 2024-06-08 00:30:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier's Civilization VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known! Rule as one of many legendary leaders from throughout history. Establish your civilization, construct cities and architectural wonders to expand your territory, conquer or cooperate with rival civilizations in pursuit of prosperity, and explore the far reaches of the unknown world. Will you build an empire that stands the test of time? Sid Meier's Civilization VII is a 4X strategy game developed by the legendary team at Firaxis Games, developers of the Civilization and XCOM franchises. [previewyoutube=pygcgE3a_uY;full][/previewyoutube] Sid Meiers Civilization VII is coming in 2025. Wishlist now! Check back on our official website to make sure you don't miss any Sid Meier's Civilization VII news: http://civilization.2k.com/seven Link your new or existing 2K Account to the platform you use to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI to add Julius Caesar to your Leader roster and unlock the Scout Cat cosmetic skin!* Details at the link below! https://civilization.2k.com/2k-account-benefits/ *Requires an internet connection, and a 2K Account linked to the account of the same platform used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI. 2K Accounts are free. One per account. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
[ 2024-06-08 00:30:23 CET ] [ Original post ]
Sid Meier's Civilization VII
Firaxis Games
Developer
2K
Publisher
2025
Release
Game News Posts:
37
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
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The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier's Civilization® VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known!
Rule as one of many legendary leaders from throughout history. Establish your civilization, construct cities and architectural wonders to expand your territory, conquer or cooperate with rival civilizations in pursuit of prosperity, and explore the far reaches of the unknown world. Will you build an empire that stands the test of time?
Sid Meier's Civilization® VII is a 4X strategy game developed by the legendary team at Firaxis Games, developers of the Civilization and XCOM franchises.
Rule as one of many legendary leaders from throughout history. Establish your civilization, construct cities and architectural wonders to expand your territory, conquer or cooperate with rival civilizations in pursuit of prosperity, and explore the far reaches of the unknown world. Will you build an empire that stands the test of time?
Sid Meier's Civilization® VII is a 4X strategy game developed by the legendary team at Firaxis Games, developers of the Civilization and XCOM franchises.
MINIMAL SETUP
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- Graphics: TBDSound Card: TBDVR Support: TBDAdditional Notes: TBD
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