Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is the latest in the long-running 4X strategy franchise that first debuted in 1991 on MS-DOS. The new turn-based game from Firaxis Games and the titular, legendary designer is set to release on PC and modern consoles in on February 11th, 2025 — over eight years after the last installment.
Civ VII promises to expand the scope of how players can write their own historical fantasy, offering the freedom to mix and match civilizations with different historical figures, such as Hatshepsut reigning over the Roman empire in the Age of Exploration. It’s the kind of game that easily consumes hundreds of hours of playtime, constantly offering new and unexpected ways to engage with its deep city-building systems. Our own Ash Parrish details in her hands-on impressions how she only managed to scratch the surface in a lengthy three-hour demo.
Here’s all our coverage of the next major title in the Civilization series.
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Imagine Caesar Augustus at the head of an army of Mongol warriors or Ben Franklin building the Great Wall of China. In Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, such flights of historical fantasy can become historical fact. The game has new ages to experience, new civilizations to build up, new leaders to guide them, and — for the first time in franchise history — the ability to mix and match leaders and civilizations to build the empire of your wildest dreams. The Verge had the opportunity to test out the game and talk with its developers at Firaxis Games. The brief, three-hour demo wasn’t enough time to get a feel for how well leaders and different civilizations work together, but I left feeling excited about all the ways Civilization VII aims to change the course of history.
In previous Civilization games, civs were always tied to a specific leader who was usually, but not always, a noteworthy head of state. Later iterations of the game offered multiple leaders for civs, and on a couple of occasions where it made historical sense, one leader could straddle multiple civs like France and England both having access to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who, during her unusually-long-for-the-time-period life, was the queen of both countries.
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Sid Meier developed the first Civilization game in 1991 and has contributed to every iteration since. When I visited Firaxis Games last year, I saw that the company maintains the very computer Meier used to develop the game, which can still be booted up and played. Walking through the halls of the studio, I saw not only the legacy of its games but its employees, too, some of whom have children who work or worked at Firaxis, including Meier’s own son. It’s no wonder, then, that Civilization VII is a game about legacy and all the ways it leaves a mark on history and contributes to the future.
Civilization VII is a strategy game in which you shepherd a country or people plucked from throughout world history through the ages of time. As their leader, often a famous ruler or notable historical figure, your job is to grow your empire to become the preeminent society of the world either through conquest, commerce, culture, or scientific advancement. As time progresses, you must make choices and take actions for your civilization that determine how it develops into a world power. You must acquire resources, choose systems of government and social policy, research technologies to improve your civilization, defend it from threats, and keep your citizenry happy.
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Here are the PC requirements for Civilization 7. -
You’ll be able to rewrite the course of history in Civilization 7 next year. Firaxis Games showed up during Opening Night Live 2024 with a new trailer and some news — Civilization 7 will launch on just about everything you can play a video game on February 11th, 2025.
Civilization 6 released eight years ago but has received a steady flow of updates and DLC in the intervening years. Firaxis Games announced it was working on a new Civilization game in February of last year. Since then, the studio has been slowly rolling out the details, debuting a teaser trailer during this year’s Summer Game Fest and now a new release date trailer for Gamescom 2024. If this trailer isn’t enough for all the 4X fanatics in the house, Firaxis has even more to share, hosting a 20-minute gameplay deep dive on Twitch at 4:30PM ET later today.
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Baba yetu, yetu uliye!
Ghandi’s coming, hide the nukes! On August 20th, Firaxis Games will share an in-depth look Civilization VII at 3:30 PM ET on Twitch and YouTube. The reveal coincides with Opening Night Live, the last big video game event of the summer hosted by video game hype meister Geoff Keighley. Expect a 20 minute deep dive into the game including new gameplay footage and new features.
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It’s been a long wait, but the next Civilization has finally been revealed. At the main Summer Game Fest keynote, publisher 2K officially announced Civilization 7, the first new entry in the strategy series since 2016. We didn’t get any real details or actual gameplay, but instead a very brief teaser trailer that looked a lot like, well, Civilization. But there’s one thing we do know: the game won’t be launching until 2025. And it’s coming to a number of platforms, with the launch planned for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.
More details will be coming in August, according to 2K, with a “full gameplay showcase.”
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A new Civilization game, likely to be called Civilization VII, is in development at Firaxis Games, incoming studio head Heather Hazen has announced.
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy, beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise,” Hazen said in a press release. “I’m lucky to be working with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights for our millions of players around the world.”