Release Window, Platforms, & Confirmed Civilizations

Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 is set to be the long-awaited continuation of a beloved series that’s helped to define the landscape of strategy games since the first game released over three decades ago. Every Civilization game yet released is focused around the standard “4X” elements — eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate — which challenge players to lead their civilization to a promising future through any and all of these methods. Racing to war can often be the most enticing option, but it’s also possible to achieve victory through developing culture or leaping ahead in science.

The other core defining aspect of Civilization is its focus on cultures from human history, which can be guided from their infancy all the way to the modern age and the future beyond. Overall development also roughly mimics the march of progress, with technology and religion following a basic linearity that can be adjusted along different paths. It’s all much more divorced from actual history than something like Europa Universalis, but the basic framework makes it easily accessible in a way that many other 4X games can’t quite recapture.

Civilization 7 Release Window

When Is Civilization 7 Releasing?

Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 was officially revealed in a trailer at 2024’s Summer Game Fest, which announced that the game will release somewhere in a 2025 window. This will conclude a nine-year wait since the release of Civilization 6, marking the longest gap between games in the series by a significant margin. It might be a while before the specific release date ends up becoming clear, but Civilization 3-5 and the spin-off Beyond Earth stuck to autumn releases, with October being a particularly common release month.

An earlier window to watch for with Civilization 7 is this coming August, which promises a gameplay showcase and a better look at the features and changes that the game will bring to the series. For now, the only core gameplay element that seems locked in place is the hex-based system utilized by Civilization 5 and 6, as the logo at the end of the trailer shows a hex shape behind the title.

Civilization 7 Platforms

Civilization 7 Has A Lot Of Options

Although the mainline Civilization series spent its time as PC-exclusive strategy games for much of its history, the franchise has more recently expanded to consoles, and Civilization 7 is doubling down on that approach. Civilization 7 will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch with a simultaneous release on all systems. Mouse and keyboard controls tend to be the most intuitive fit for 4X gameplay, but it’s definitely nice to have options, and being able to take the Civilization experience on the go with the Switch is a particularly appealing option.

Cultures & Characters To Expect In Civilization 7

The Civilization 7 Trailer Teases Some Elements

The Civilization 7 reveal trailer doesn’t show much, but it does at least offer some more or less explicit confirmation of a number of returning civilizations. It opens with a desert caravan that invokes Sahel and Sahara civilizations like the Mali or Songhai before transitioning to the clear signifier is the Great Pyramid of Giza, which traditionally appears as a Wonder in the games and should also herald the inclusion of Egypt. A female Egyptian leader appears behind the Pyramid, which likely represents Cleopatra in the game.

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The next Wonder to appear is the Great Wall of China, which shows Chinese defenders holding the border against what appears to be a Mongol horde storming it. Genghis Khan’s visage is shown looming over the wall, which presumably locks him in as the Mongol leader. It becomes harder to pick out specific civilizations as the trailer speeds through the Renaissance, Age of Discovery, and Industrial Revolution, but costuming and architecture appears from various European cultures, and the trailer ultimately culminates in the launch of a rocket modeled after NASA’s Saturn V.

The return of the Civilization series definitely has the potential to be exciting, and just how promising the new entry is should become more clear when more details are revealed in August. At any rate, Civilization 7 will deliver plenty of 4X possibilities, and it stands the chance of becoming another definitive entry in the genre.

Source: The Game Awards/YouTube