Civilization VII Developers Explore Full-Civ Playthroughs as Community Requests Shift Gameplay Focus

In Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, the developers at Firaxis aimed to shake up the established mechanics of the series by introducing a system where different civilizations «evolve» into others at the dawn of each new era. However, this innovation wasn’t well received by everyone, prompting the studio to make the seventh installment more akin to its predecessors.

Initially, this transition mechanism was designed to encourage players to see their gaming sessions through to completion, as well as to enhance the historical aspect of Civilization VII. For instance, the intention was to ensure that the USA did not exist during the agricultural age and that the Maya civilization would not venture into space.

Firstly, according to a message from Firaxis, the team is currently testing the ability to play as a single civilization across multiple eras. Players will be able to choose any available civilization and guide it through the ages. The developers noted that this option has become one of the most requested features in the community.

Secondly, the studio is evaluating «significant changes» to the Legacy Paths and victory conditions in the seventh game. «We want to expand gameplay options and present numerous new routes for your empire to pursue greatness and achieve victory,» the developers conveyed.

Players themselves will also have a chance to contribute to these changes. The developers announced the Firaxis Feature Workshop program, allowing a limited number of engaged gamers to test an early build and provide feedback before the patch with the updates is released to everyone. This program will commence in a few months.

Firaxis also cautioned that the holiday season is approaching, which means upcoming updates for Civilization VII will be smaller and less frequent. Another reason for this is the team’s focus on testing significant changes as previously mentioned.

On November 4, the game will receive update 1.3.0 along with a content collection called Tides of Power, which will be available for free until January 5 across all platforms. This ensemble will be divided into two parts: the first will introduce two civilizations (Tonga and the Pirate Republic), new wonders of the world, and a leader named Edward Teach (also known as Blackbeard), while in December, the leader Said al-Hurra and two more powers (the Ottomans and Iceland) will be added.