''Sid Meier's Civilization VII'' is a 4X

turn-based strategy Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...

video game developed by

Firaxis Games Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs, and Brian Reynolds (game designer), Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meie ...

and published by 2K. The game was released on February 11, 2025, for

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Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

. It was also released on June 5, 2025, for

Nintendo Switch 2 The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo, released in most regions on June5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, Switch, it can be used as a Handheld game console, handheld, as a Tablet computer, tablet, or connected via ...

Gameplay

''Civilization VII'' is a 4X

game. The player oversees the growth of a human civilization from its earliest settlements to advanced society. The player uses various military and civilian units to explore the map, grow their civilization through the founding of additional settlements, advance their civilization's culture and technology, utilize surrounding resources, and contend or collaborate with competing civilizations. Multiple victory conditions are available to the player, including military, scientific, cultural, and economic avenues. ''Civilization VII'' allows the player to select leaders and civilizations independently, with civilizations favoring leaders with certain attributes. The criteria for what constitutes a "leader" have also been updated, now including philosophers, religious figures, and scientists who were not heads of state. The historical era system is simplified into the antiquity, exploration, and modern ages, in comparison to the further divisions implemented by the game's predecessors. During all ages, independent factions—deliberately labeled to prevent perceived negative connotations of the term "

barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

" used in previous games in the series—emerge. Depending on how the player chooses to interact with them, these may evolve to become city states. Towards the end of the antiquity and exploration ages, players are faced with "crisis events" which simulate societal disruption and civilization downfall. Upon the conclusion of these ages, the player must choose a new civilization with which to begin the next age.

Development

In February 2023,

announced it was developing a sequel to ''

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a 2016 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. The mobile and Nintendo Switch ports were published by Aspyr Media. It is the sequel to ''Civilization V'' ...

'' (2016). ''

PCGamesN ''PCGamesN'' is a British website with articles about PC gaming and hardware. History Parent company Network N was founded by James Binns (formerly of Future Publishing) in late May 2012. ''PCGamesN'' launched the following month. PCGamesN ...

'' reported in August 2021 that Firaxis had posted a job opening for a narrative lead for the game. Gwendoline Christie narrates the game's voiceovers. Firaxis Games collaborated with members of the

Shawnee Tribe The Shawnee Tribe is a Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe ...

, including Shawnee chief Benjamin Barnes, to create a historically accurate depiction of

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

in the game. Tecumseh is voiced by Dean Dillon, a Shawnee voice actor. As part of the partnership between Firaxis Games and the Shawnee Tribe, Firaxis and 2K donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to programs working to revitalize the

Shawnee language Shawnee ( ) is a Central Algonquian languages, Algonquian language spoken in parts of central and northeastern Oklahoma by the Shawnee people. Historically, it was spoken across a wide region of the Eastern United States, primarily north of the Oh ...

. ''Civilization VII''s opening cinematic "Rediscover Hope" and

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

"Live Gloriously" were revealed at the 2024 Game Awards. "Live Gloriously" is written by American composer Christopher Tin, who also composed the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning song " Baba Yetu", the main theme of '' Civilization IV'', as well as ''

s main theme " Sogno di Volare". The song's lyrics are derived from four ancient

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

s—the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'', ''

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, one of the Maya peoples who also inhabit the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, ...

'', and ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

''—which are sung in their languages as originally written. The game's original score was composed, arranged, and produced by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo. It features performances by ensembles and musicians from around the world, including the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague, Mongolian State Morin Khuur Ensemble, Ensemble I Fedeli, Southern Pine Drum Group, Wong Pleng Khmer, among many soloists.

Release

''Civilization VII'' was announced at the Summer Game Fest on June 7, 2024. 2K previously announced it would appear at Summer Game Fest in May to reveal the "next iteration in one of its biggest and most beloved franchises". Hours before the presentation, the game was unintentionally announced on 4K's website. ''Civilization VII'' was released for

, Steam Deck, and

on February 11, 2025. It was also released for the

as a launch title on June 5, 2025. A

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

(VR)/

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

(AR) version of ''Civilization VII'' is planned for launch in early 2025 for the Meta Quest 3 and 3S. This version was developed by PlaySide Studios. Due to feedback during the early access stage, on February 10, 2025, Firaxis Games released Patch 1.0.1 for ''Civilization VII'', which included improvements to the user interface and tooltips. The update also introduced minor rebalancing for certain civilizations, ensuring a more streamlined gameplay experience.

Reception

''Civilization VII'' received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. OpenCritic determined that 76% of critics recommended the game. The game's visuals and sounds, diplomacy system overhaul, and choice to untether leaders from civilizations were mostly praised. However, many critics found the UI lacking, the mechanics oversimplified, and the three ages system divisive. Other points of criticism included the perceived premature end of the technology tree and the overreliance on DLC to fix or add lacking features. Player reviews were less positive, with ''Civilization VII'' receiving ''Mixed'' reviews on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

from advanced access players shortly before its full release. Months after the game's release, ''Civilization VII'' maintained a ''Mixed'' rating on Steam, with only 48% of players recommending the game, and the two previous entries of the series still surpassing ''Civilization VII'' in active players.

References

External links