In case you missed it, here’s another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:

Both land and sea are yours to conquer with new Exploration Age civ, Norman! Check out the full game guide for Norman here[civilization.2k.com].

We also released our First Look video for Machiavelli and added a new Game Guide entry[civilization.2k.com] to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities.

Listen to the first 11 tracks of the original Civilization VII soundtrack[2kgam.es] now on YouTube.

Our devs are back with another episode of Civ Streams! This time, we’re setting sail to Distant Lands in the Exploration Age, covering many of the unique features, civs, and even resources that make this Age unique. We’ll 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[www.twitch.tv] 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 week’s 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.

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:


Voting closes November 1, 2024. Thanks for all your support and for joining us on each and every turn!

- The Firaxis Development Team

In case you missed it, here’s another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:


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[civilization.2k.com] and Persia[civilization.2k.com].

We also released our First Look video for Xerxes and added a new game guide entry[civilization.2k.com] to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities.

In case you’re hungry for more reveals, we’ve got another Civ and First Look coming your way soon. Also, we know you’ve been waiting for more gameplay, so I come bearing good news: we’ll be sharing details soon on our next livestream, where our devs will dive into the Exploration Age. Stay tuned!

In case you missed it, here’s another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:

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 [civilization.2k.com]and Chola[civilization.2k.com].


We also released our First Look video for Ashoka and added a new Game Guide entry[civilization.2k.com] to the Civilization website with full details on his attributes and abilities.

We’ve 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!

In case you missed it, here’s another roundup of Civilization VII news from the past week:


Learn more about Civ VII’s 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[www.twitch.tv]!

Plus, we’ve got something extra - this panel marked the first new Leader reveal since announce! Check out the latest First Look video for Trưng Trắc.


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[www.twitch.tv].

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, we’re 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.

In a recent Sid Meier's Civilization® VII[civilization.2k.com] panel from PAX Australia, developers from Firaxis including Andrew Frederiksen (Lead Producer), Ryan Andrade (Lead Concept Artist), John Fitzgerald (Lead Unit Artist), and Matthew Quickel (Senior Lead Environment Artist) discussed some of the concepts, inspiration, iteration, and creation that shaped the striking visual style of Civilization VII. Now you can watch a VOD of the discussion below!

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!


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.

This selection process has changed quite a bit through some of the new features we're bringing to Civilization VII. Two things in particular change our internal calculus: Ages[civilization.2k.com] and the ability to mix and match leaders and civs.

As Ed previously outlined[civilization.2k.com], Ages split history into distinct playable chapters, and every civ is unique to its Age. One of the direct results and benefits of this system is we can now go "deeper" with civilizations. Instead of a civ needing to meet the bar of having historical prominence across all of history, now we can apply that thinking to just one Age. Aksum[civilization.2k.com] or Maurya India[civilization.2k.com] are good examples of this; cultures that were particularly prominent during a specific slice of history.

With the ability to mix and match leaders and civs, we've decoupled what was traditionally a package deal. This is particularly liberating because in the past, leaders essentially needed to be the most popular or well-known figure from their respective civ, which often meant focusing on a ruler, kings and queens, president, or some other political figure. Now, in Civilization VII, great figures of philosophy, human rights, science and more are now elevated to leader status, like Confucius[civilization.2k.com] and Benjamin Franklin.

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[civilization.2k.com] 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[civilization.2k.com] 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 Shì Dàfū is like a mini "Great People" system - each Shì Dàfū provides a different reward, is received only once, and increases in cost. Maya[civilization.2k.com]'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[civilization.2k.com] 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[civilization.2k.com].
***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[civilization.2k.com].

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[2kgam.es].

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

In the latest Civ Streams developer livestream, our devs sat down with Shawnee guests, Chief Ben Barnes and Karl Meyer, to explore Tecumseh's legacy and the rich history of the Shawnee. In the VOD above, you can see more of the leader Tecumseh[civilization.2k.com]* and the Shawnee[civilization.2k.com] civilization* in Sid Meier's Civilization® VII[civilization.2k.com] with plenty of live gameplay and discussion.

In case you missed it, we also just published Dev Diary 2: Leaders and Civs[civilization.2k.com], with Lead Franchise Producer Dennis Shirk sharing insight into how the team decides which leaders and civilizations to showcase in-game. The article also digs into the rationale for why Civilization VII uses the mix-and-match approach for leaders and civs for more strategy and replayability.

We also showed more of the Exploration Age, the second of the three Ages[civilization.2k.com] in Civilization VII. You'll get additional deep-dive details on the Exploration Age in our next livestream, so make sure you don't miss it by following the Firaxis Games Twitch channel[www.twitch.tv]! Thanks again for watching, and we can't wait to share more in the next Civ Streams developer livestream!

*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 also available as a pre-order offer for the Standard Edition until February 11, 2025, and will be available for separate purchase thereafter. Terms apply.