Sid Meier’s Civilization VI News & Patch Notes

...

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI News & Patch Notes | SteamScope

Civilization VII's Test of Time Update Coming May 19!

2K Ksteam_community_announcements

83d ago

When Firaxis first conceived of Civilization VII, the ambition was to boldly re-approach the series' classic structure with new mechanics rooted in a more nuanced historical perspective, while honoring and building upon the time-tested strategic gameplay that players love. Since our February 2025 launch, those same players have only helped us better achieve that initial, ambitious vision.

Today, we're thrilled to officially announce the release date for the Test of Time update for Civilization VII, free for all players when it releases on May 19.* This is much more than just another update; it's a direct result of your passion, feedback, and patience. It also wouldn't have been possible without our dedicated and invaluable Firaxis Feature Workshop participants, who were essential to shaping Test of Time's features by putting them through their paces over the past months.

We're so excited for players to get their hands on the update soon! For now, we'll give a brief overview of what's coming, and point you toward where and when you can learn more before Test of Time's May 19 launch.

The Test of Time Update

Beyond simply being Civ VII's next major update, Test of Time is by far the biggest and most fundamentally game-changing. Our intent was to synthesize over a year's worth of listening, iteration, and playtesting into a one massive, free update that exists in tandem with the many smaller-yet-meaningful updates already released since launch.

The most substantial of these changes arrive in the form of three reworked or entirely new features:

Time-Tested Civs: By far the most-requested addition, you'll be able to play as one civ throughout an entire campaign when the Test of Time update goes live. While you'll still have the option to evolve your empire into a different civilization during Age Transitions, the ability to play as one civ across the span of history is something many players hold dear as a core component of the Civ experience. When playing as these Time-Tested civs, the new Syncretism mechanic will allow you to create all-new builds by adopting the Unique Units or Infrastructure from another civilization that's currently in its Apex Age, or double-down on what makes your civ unique with Affirmation.
A new Victories system: Through a wider range of activities, Victories have been completely reworked to reward your dominance throughout an entire game. We're committed to making sure your win in Civ VII is defined by successfully making interesting choices and giving you as many paths as possible to pursue greatness.
Triumphs: Completely replacing Legacy Paths is the new Triumphs system. Triumphs offer a wide range of optional, challenging objectives to help each game feel unique, and are tied to each of the six Attributes: Militaristic, Cultural, Scientific, Economic, Diplomatic, and Expansionist.

Alongside these three main pillars, the update also brings other improvements, including:

A new Fractal Continent map
A new Commerce screen
A new Advisor Council
Updated map generation
New Narrative Events
Updates to Specialists and Biomes
New audio and music
Numerous balance changes
A Great (and FREE) new leader!*
And more!

For a comprehensive breakdown of what Test of Time adds to Civ VII, check out our first-anniversary check-in article from back in February, with in-depth details directly from Ed Beach, creative director of the Civilization franchise.

*Base game required. This content is free for all owners of Civilization VII and will be delivered automatically in-game on release. Terms apply.

Civilization VII Update 1.2.2 – Jun 23

CivGamesteam_community_announcements

400d ago

Hey Civ fans,

Update 1.2.2 is rolling out now!

We’ve been heads-down at Firaxis putting together a hefty update for you this June, packed with long-awaited features like Large and Huge Maps, expanded Advanced Game Options, and a community favorite: Steam Workshop support. This update also brings new Town Specializations, City-State Bonuses, Beliefs, balance changes, UI improvements, and yes – a very pettable Scout dog.

For more context on what’s in this update, and what’s still being worked on beyond it, check out our recently released Update Check-In.

We’re also trying something new with this update. You’ll notice a (★) icon next to select notes: our way of showing that a feature or change was influenced by the community. If you don’t see this community icon next to something you’ve mentioned, know that it’s not a reflection on your feedback, it’s just a way to highlight some of the broader conversations we’re listening in on. Thanks for being part of the journey, and there’s more to come!

And lastly, a few quick notes before you dive in:

While we aim to maintain backwards compatibility for existing saves as much as possible, some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign. For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age.
If you encounter any new bugs or issues, try disabling any mods, as some may not yet be compatible with the latest update.
Are you playing on Steam and want to finish your current save under a previous version? You can do so using our legacy Steam beta branch.

Read on for the full notes below!

Large and Huge Maps

We wanted to take some time to get this feature right, and with 1.2.2, we’re happy to add support for Large and Huge map sizes on all of our map types – for when you really want to explore an epic world.

Both map sizes default to 10 players, but multiplayer campaigns still max out at 8 total players, including AI and humans. Though 12 total players is still our goal for Huge maps, we need a bit more time to make sure increased player counts won’t compromise game stability or performance.

On maps this big, you’ll find yourself encountering new leaders and civs playing out their own local rivalries deep into the Exploration Age, and even the largest of empires will often find themselves struggling with other emerging superpowers in the Modern Age.

Because these maps are so large, we’ve added exciting new Pantheons, Religious Beliefs, Discoveries, and City-State bonuses to ensure there’s enough content for all the players in a game. More on those below.

A quick heads-up that bigger maps have bigger hardware demands. On some systems, you might notice slower turn times or performance drops, especially on lower-end hardware. Lastly, Balanced starts on Large and Huge maps might encounter map generation oddities. We are actively working on improvements. On these map sizes, we recommend you stick to Standard starts instead of Balanced for the time being

New Advanced Game Options

One of the best things about Civilization is how many ways there are to play. Some players are happy to peacefully build the biggest, best Cities while others want to ignore all that and go conquer the world ("Yes, your amazing City does look great in my empire"). With 1.2.2, we’ve added several new advanced game setup options to give you even more control over how you play. The below options are currently available only in singleplayer. The new options include:

Enable or disable specific Legacy Paths per Age (or turn them all off entirely)
Disable Score Victory (unlimited turns in final Age)
Enable or disable specific Crises
Custom AI Difficulty Options (adjust each AI bonus independently)
Bypass Civ Unlocks on Age Transition (you’ll be able to pick ANY civ from the next Age during an Age transition, no matter what you’ve unlocked through your gameplay decisions)
Adjust Independent Power Hostility (all hostile, random, or all friendly)

We’ve had a lot of fun playing with different Legacy Paths on or off in each Age. While Legacy Paths that don’t lead to a Victory are always optional, sometimes it’s nice to just tune them out entirely and focus on playing into the unique strengths of your leader and civ. For a fun sandbox game we’ve been playing in the office, try turning off Legacy Paths for Antiquity and Exploration, and setting the game to Abbreviated Ages. If you want to lean into the sandbox feel even more, try turning off Legacy Paths in Modern and the Score Victory, too.

This is a step toward giving you more flexibility in how you play, and we know Legacy Paths have more room to grow. Stay tuned for future updates!

New Bonuses for Religion, City-States, and Towns

Pantheons are first come first serve, so to make sure there’s enough to go around, we’ve added two new Pantheons to Antiquity, and these can be selected by more than one player.

We’ve heard feedback from players that Religion in Civ VII has room to grow. One consistent piece of feedback we’ve seen is that there’s not enough reason to convert your own Settlements, so we’re adding new Beliefs and updating some existing ones that give bonuses for spreading your Religion within your own empire. We’ve got bigger and bolder changes on the horizon for Religion, too, so we’ll keep you updated on how it evolves!

We’re also introducing updates for Town Focus bonuses to help them feel more impactful. Urban Centers in particular have received a glow-up, and now gain access to many of the Buildings that were otherwise only available in Cities (like Libraries and Monuments in Antiquity). Fort Towns gain the ability to purchase multiple walls so they can really lock down strategic chokepoints. We also introduced a new type of Town Focus: the Resort Town. These relaxing scenic retreats gain extra Gold and Happiness on Rural tiles with Happiness and increased Yields on Natural Wonders.

Lastly, we felt massed Hub Towns were overshadowing some of the other options and gave them a slight nerf from +2 Influence per connected Settlement to +1 Influence. We’re going to keep our eye on them to see how they compare against the other newly buffed Towns.

Steam Workshop

We’ve added a lot of options to customize your experience with this update, but nothing beats the level of personalization you can achieve with the help of our amazing modding community. From UI tweaks to ambitious gameplay overhauls, mods provide a way to really make your gameplay experience unique. So with this update, we're also rolling out Steam Workshop support and an initial version of the Modding SDK.

You'll now be able to find and install mods from the Steam Workshop. Just hit the Subscribe button and your mods will be installed the next time you start up the game! For modders, this of course means your mods will be easier for players to find and download, and you'll be better able to keep the mod up-to-date for your users. Please note that the Civilization VII mods you'll find in the Workshop are created by and for the Civ community, and are not officially supported by Firaxis or 2K. Use them at your own risk!

We’ll also be providing a Modding SDK to help our modding community create, debug, and upload mods to the Steam Workshop. While this initial version of the SDK won't feature art tools, it will include a mod uploader and the (glorious) return of FireTuner. Additionally, we've included some guides and documentation within the tools, if you’d like to learn how to make your own mods.

Last thing – we’ve also uploaded three example mods to the Steam Workshop to show off some of the things you can do with mods, but also as references for both new and more experienced modders on the various ways you can make changes to the game (there are a few neat tricks that weren’t available in Civilization VI)!

A quick reminder for modders:

When you're creating and sharing mods, please make sure your content follows our User Rules (which you can find in Section 6 of our Terms of Service), for example:

Don’t use content based on someone else’s IP (like characters, music, or art from other games, movies, etc.) unless you have the rights to use it.
Keep content safe and respectful, meaning no harmful, offensive, or inappropriate material.
And of course, no malicious code or anything that could negatively impact the experience for other players.

New Loading Screen

Did someone say more Gwendoline Christie VO?

One of the first things you’ll notice when you boot up 1.2.2 is a refreshed Loading Screen, a small but important step in a bigger effort to improve Civilization VII’s UI. We’ve rethought how we develop the UI, and the Loading Screen gave us a great chance to try new workflows without disrupting gameplay. Highlights include leader portraits front and center, new info panels, a Tips & Hints section, and fully rewritten and rerecorded intros narrated by Gwendoline Christie. Want to dive deeper? Check out our latest article from Firaxis Lead Producer Tom Shaw on this change and what’s next for the UI.

Gameplay

New Advanced Game Options

(★) - Community Influenced Item] Added an option to pick and choose which Legacy Paths are enabled per Age.
- Dev Note: We wanted to give players options for how they could customize their game by allowing them to turn off Legacy Paths of their choice, and allowing them to disable the Score Victory. Note that if you turn off all Legacy Paths, and disable the Score Victory, you can still win the game with a Domination Victory by eliminating all other leaders. We think this change should allow for a cool sandbox experience through the Ages! (Please note that currently these options are only available in Single-player, but we plan to add these to Multiplayer in the future.)
  - Nuclear Fission Tech is added to the Modern Age, so players can still use nukes without completing the Military Legacy Path.
(★) Added an option to disable the Score Victory.
(★) Added a new “Custom” AI Difficulty setting that allows the player to choose difficulty options specific for each value.
- Dev Note: With this update, you can set any of the AI bonuses to any level you want individually. Don’t like the economic bonuses the AI has on Deity, but enjoy the challenge in combat? Now you can set up a game to do exactly that!
(★) Added an option to pick and choose which Crises you want on or off in your game.
- Dev Note: We’ve always allowed for Crises to be entirely on or off, but wanted to give you the added control to pick and choose which Crises you want to see. If you have more than one Crisis enabled for an Age, then the game will randomly choose one from the pool of enabled Crises.
(★) Added an option to Bypass Civilization Unlocks, allowing players to choose any civ for the next Age at Age Transition regardless of any unlock requirements.
(★) Added an option to control initial Independent Power hostility. Settling within 5 tiles of an Independent Power will still cause them to become hostile.
- Dev Note: Starting near multiple hostile IPs can make for a challenging early game, but sometimes you just want some space to build out your Capital.

Land-Based Treasure Convoys

(★) Treasure Fleets are growing legs! These will now be called Treasure Convoys, and you’ll be able to use them over land and not just the sea. Any Distant Lands Settlement with improved Treasure Resources now generates Treasure Convoys and no longer requires Coastal access, a Fishing Quay, or the Shipbuilding Tech.
- Dev Note: The Treasure Fleet Legacy path, specifically the gameplay around gathering Resources not immediately available to your empire, is a fun collection minigame for players that like to play the map. While we’ve improved Resource placement further, the steps required to progress this Legacy Path were still quite restrictive and often forced linear play patterns instead of asking for interesting decisions when settling. We’ve made some adjustments that should make it much easier to pursue this Legacy Path, while still requiring you to explore and settle Distant Lands. We plan on continuing to observe this Legacy Path as well as the others to find places to inject strategic variety.
Shipbuilding is no longer required to make Treasure Convoys.
- Dev Note: With this change, your Treasure Convoys will start their journey home while the Ocean is still dangerous, and your Units can still be damaged by stormy seas.
Fishing Quays are no longer needed to make Treasure Convoys.
Updated tutorial and Advisor Quests to remove instances of Fishing Quay being required to spawn Treasure Convoy.

AI

AI civs now repair damaged Buildings and Improvements over time in gameplay.
AI will now have better judgment and make smarter deals when negotiating a peace deal.
AI players will now activate a Great Person when they create one.
AI now prioritizes attacking Enemy Treasure Convoys when progressing through a game.
AI are no longer as aggressive in declaring war on players who are far away from them.
AI leaders can no longer build duplicate Buildings when one of their damaged Buildings has a hostile Unit on it.
AI civs will no longer build multiple Settler Units and not use them when encountered during late Antiquity gameplay.

Cities & Towns

Added a brand new Town Focus, Resort Town: +1/2/3 Happiness and +1/2/3 Gold on tiles with Happiness (Natural Appeal). +50% Yields on Natural Wonder tiles in this Town.
Redesigned Urban Center: +100% Gold and Happiness towards Building maintenance in this Town. You can buy additional Buildings (e.g. Library, Bath, Monuments) in this Town (Was: +1 Science and Culture on Districts with two Buildings in this Town.)
- Dev Note: You can think of Urban Centers like a mini-City – useful for when you want some additional Buildings, but don't necessarily want another build queue to manage.
(★) Adjusted balance on several existing Town Focuses:
- Religious site: +1 Happiness on all Buildings and +1 Relic Slot on Temples in this Town. (Was: +2 Happiness and +1 Relic Slot on Temples in this Town.)
- Factory Town: +100% Gold towards purchasing a Factory in this town. +1 Resource Slots. +5 Trade Range. (From +100% Gold towards purchasing a Factory in this Town. +1 Resource Slots.)
- Mining Town: +2/3/4 Production on all Camps, Woodcutters, Clay Pits, Mines, and Quarries. (Was: +1/2/3 Production on all Camps, Woodcutters, Clay Pits, Mines, and Quarries.)
- Hub Town: +1 Influence for every connected Town (Was: +2 Influence for every connected Town.)
  - Dev Note: The only nerf of the bunch, Hub Town has been tuned down slightly to bring it in line with other Towns. We’ll keep an eye on this Focus for further tweaks that may be needed.
- Fort Town: +5 healing to Units and +25 health to Walls in this Town and can purchase additional Walls.

Independent Powers & City-States

(★) Added 24 new City-State bonuses across the Ages.
- Dev Note: Bigger maps means more players, and more potential City-State allies. To support this, we added more options for Suzerain bonuses when befriending a City-State. One of these new options is also shareable, so multiple civs can choose it. We felt that having a good baseline option available to all players would be a good quality-of-life consideration.
- New Antiquity City-State Bonuses:
  - Scientific
    - Lingua Franca: +2 Science on displayed Codices.
    - Archimedes’ Screw: +1 Science on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
    - Dev Note: There are a few new bonuses that stack bonuses on Warehouse Buildings. This is part of an approach we're experimenting with to keep infrastructure Buildings like Warehouses relevant and impactful as more of your empire is swallowed up by urban sprawl.
  - Militaristic
    - Hegemon: +1 Settlement Limit.
    - Dev Note: Some players have asked for more ways to increase Settlement Limit. We’re pretty comfortable with the current limits and how they rein in overly-wide strategies, but this seemed like an appropriately-costed way to give those players an option.
    - Spoils of War: +1 War Support. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Economic
    - Stockpiles: +2 Resource Capacity in the Capital.
    - Ganzabara: +1 Gold on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Cultural
    - Ennigaldi-Nanna’s Museum: +2 Culture on displayed Codices.
    - Papermaking: +1 Culture on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
- New Exploration City-State Bonuses:
  - Scientific
    - Master Tradesmen: +1 Science on Specialists.
    - Apprenticeship: +1 Science on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Militaristic
    - Staked Claims: +1 Settlement Limit.
    - Casus Belli: +1 War Support. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Economic
    - Bullion: +1 Gold on Treasure Resources.
    - Market Right: +1 Gold on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Cultural
    - Sì Mín: +1 Culture on Specialists.
    - Artisans: +1 Culture on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
- New Modern City-State Bonuses:
  - Scientific
    - Refineries: +1 Science on slotted Factory Resources.
    - Mechanization: +1 Science on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Militaristic
    - Dependent Territories: +1 Settlement Limit.
    - Home Front: +1 War Support. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Economic
    - Factory System: +1 Resource Capacity in Settlements with a Factory.
    - Entrepreneurship: +1 Gold on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Cultural
    - Touring Exhibits: +3 Culture on displayed Artifacts.
    - Textile Industry: +1 Culture on Warehouse Buildings. This bonus can be chosen by multiple civilizations.

Economy

Made several balance adjustments to Specialists, especially in Modern.
- Free Speech (Modern Age Civic): +50% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists (Was: +100% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists)
- Constitution (Exploration Age Civic): 25% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists (Was: 50% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists)
- Attribute Node: 10% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists, or +20% if you have 3 or fewer Cities (Was: 15% Food and Happiness towards maintaining Specialists, or +30% if you have 3 or fewer Cities)
- Attribute Node: 15% of Food is refunded when a City grows by adding a Specialist. (Was: 25% of Food is refunded when a City grows by adding a Specialist.)
- Fascism Ideology:
  - Assembly Line: +2 Production from Specialists. -2 Food in Towns. (Was: +3 Production from Specialists. -3 Food in Towns)
  - Dirigisme: +4 Gold from Specialists. -3 Happiness in Towns. (Was: +6 Gold from Specialists. -3 Happiness in Towns.)
- Communism Ideology
  - Proletariat: +4 Food from Specialists. -3 Happiness in Towns (Was: +6 Food from Specialists. -3 Happiness in Towns.)
Removed Gold Maintenance for Portal de Mercaderes, Steel Mill, and Manigramam.
Removed Happiness Maintenance for the Garden, Shiguan, Catedral, and Jardin à la Française.
The “Suffetes” Tradition now grants the bonus Yields to the specialized Towns when slotting the Policy.
Tiles in Settlements without a Baray now get pillaged/damaged during floods while playing as Khmer after studying Mousong.
Aerodrome and Rail Station can no longer be built on top of each other.
Updated ability and text for Terrace Farm, which now gives adjacent buildings Gold, instead of receiving gold for adjacent Buildings.
Multiple World Wonders can no longer be built on the same tile when moving the priority on the Production queue.
The Opera House now counts as a Diplomacy building.
You can now produce or purchase Buildings after the Jaguar Slayer has placed a Jaguar Trap on an Empty Urban District.
Salt and Truffles resources now apply 20% Production towards producing Units when slotted into a City.
Modifiers for City Park, Stock Exchange, Tenement, and Laboratory function correctly.

Age Transition

(★) All leader-recommended civs are now unlocked by default during Age transition.

Diplomacy

Reconciliation is now usable with multiple leaders at the same time.
Continental System's massive relationship penalty now functions similar to a Denounce sanction.
Hostile military no longer receives War Support combat bonus when using Kispoko Nena’to to attack with Shawnee Civic Telwatiki Mastery unlocked.

Environment

(★) All map types now guarantee enough traversable Ocean Tiles near the Poles.
The water/lake tiles in Homelands no longer appear as Distant Land when using Continents, Terra Incognita, and Pangaea Plus map types.
Sugar resource is now correctly considered a Bonus resource in Modern instead of an Empire resource.
Addressed a reported issue where Cocoa would disappear from the map when transitioning to Modern.

Miscellaneous

(★) Added new option to pet the Scout dog.
Razing changes made in Update 1.2.1 apply in the Modern Age.
Sicilian Wars Mastery now grants one Great Work slot on Towns with the Trade Outpost focus when playing as Carthage.
Addressed a reported issue where the new host in a multiplayer room could not see the kick button or remove players after inheriting host status.

Military

Sherpa activation lens corrected, and activation tiles are now highlighted correctly.
Naval focused attacks (Commander orders) should now correctly highlight land or naval Units depending on the type of attack.
Treasure Convoys are now captured when killed by a Naval Unit.
Combat Strength bonuses from slotted Traditions now appear and function correctly when defending.
The Army and Fleet Commander promotions work on respawned Commanders.
Fleet Commanders "Barrage Land Target" action is no longer available when the only available Naval Units are Submarines.
Naval Units now have the ability to conduct coastal raids when they have the Movement points and Shipbuilding II Tech is completed.
The Army Commander ability "Scorched Earth" will no longer display while in friendly territory on the borderline of enemy territory.
French Empire's Unique Unit Garde Imperiale can no longer gain +2 Combat Strength if it’s not within a Command Radius when attacking.
Nepal’s Sherpas can construct Highland Power Stations on owned and unowned Tiles so long as the requirements are met.
Naval Commander Movement now acts accordingly when Shipbuilding Mastery is completed.
Coastal Raid no longer disappears when moving a Naval Unit onto another tile that had a Coastal Raid option.

Religion

(★) Added two new Pantheons, including:
- Trickster God: +25% Influence towards Endeavors and Sanctions with an Altar in your Capital. This Pantheon can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
- God of Revelry: +1 Happiness on Resources in Settlements with an Altar. This Pantheon can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
- Dev Note: Another consideration for larger maps and player counts was more Pantheon and Religious Beliefs being chosen. We expanded the catalogue of Beliefs and introduced some shareable options here as well.
(★) Added several new Religious Beliefs, including:
- New Reliquary Beliefs:
  - Akhlaq: +1 Relic for first-time Conversion of one of your Cities.
  - Anitya: +2 Relics for the first-time Conversion of a Holy City. This Belief can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Sukha: +2 Relics for first-time Conversion of a Settlement with at least 3 Specialists.
  - Barakah: +2 Relics for first-time Conversion of any Settlement with a Natural Wonder.
  - Dev Note: These new Beliefs can all be used on your own Settlements when you use a Missionary to convert them, as long as they meet the other requirements.
- New Founder Beliefs:
  - Salat: All Buildings receive a +1 Happiness adjacency with the Temple.
  - Chesed: +4 Production in your Settlements following your Religion.
  - Feed the World: +6 Food in your Settlements following your Religion.
  - Tikkun Olam: +2 Influence for every foreign Settlement following your Religion. +1 Influence for each of your Settlements following your Religion.
  - Covenant: +3 Science, Culture, Happiness, Influence, and Gold on the Temple in your Holy City. If you retain this Belief, this bonus transfers to your Palace in Modern. This Belief can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
    - Dev Note: We moved the bonus in Modern to ensure you didn’t lose it if you overbuilt your Temple. We considered starting it on your Palace in Exploration, but wanted to let it count towards the Enlightenment Legacy Path.
  - Pushkaram: +1 Influence for every Navigable River tile in foreign Settlements following your Religion.
- New Enhancer Beliefs:
  - Divine Inspiration: Gain 2 Missionaries when you build a Wonder. This belief can be chosen by multiple civilizations.
  - Parampara: +1 Relic Slot in Science Buildings in Cities.
  - Inter Caetera: Treasure Convoys gain +1 Movement and +5 Combat when defending.
  - Crusade: +1 free War Support against civilizations who have Founded a Religion.
(★) Added capability for shareable Religious Beliefs and City-State bonuses.
(★) When a Missionary Unit is selected, Settlements that qualify for your Reliquary Belief are now highlighted.
- Dev Note: No more searching tile-by-tile for Settlements that are producing Treasure Convoys or have Wonders!
Founder Beliefs that provided Yield for each foreign Settlement following your Religion now grant some Yield for domestic Settlements following your Religion.
- Dev Note: Many of the changes to Religious gameplay in this patch are aimed at providing a benefit for keeping your empire converted to your own Religion. As we continue to look at Religion as a whole, we’ve made some changes to Beliefs to better support having a Religious empire, and not just converting until you have enough Relics.
Various Founders Beliefs now track and refresh correctly.
- Desert Faith
- Reincarnation
- Holy Waters
- Sacred Herds
- Sky Gods
- Shamanism

Leaders & Civs

Leaders

Isabella
- Seven Cities of Gold Unique Ability updated to +100 Gold per Age when discovering a Wonder (Was: +300 in all Ages) and her extra Yields on Natural Wonders to a stacking +50% per improved Natural Wonder in her empire (Was: a fixed +100%).
  - Dev Note: A strong start is a powerful advantage, and Isabella has been one of the strongest leaders in the game since launch. We didn’t want to remove her power entirely, but instead wanted to spread it out a bit more over the course of a campaign and really give her a reason to seek out and secure as many Natural Wonders as she can.

Civs

Inca
- Qhapaq Ñan Tradition now allows players to create Homeland Treasure Convoys worth 2 points in Cities with at least 3 Mountains.
(Crossroads of the World DLC) Carthage
- The City Halls now gets +1 Great Work slot after unlocking Sicilian Wars Mastery while playing as Catherine.

UI/UX

Civilopedia

Added Civilopedia entries for Mementos, Legend Paths, and Challenges.
Updated Civilopedia to reflect new changes to Treasure Convoys.
Information about Natural Wonder base Yield scaling between Ages is now in the Civilopedia.
The Civilopedia now gives information on Standard Buildings when searching for more information.
The Civilopedia now explains what benefits are gained from upgrading a Unique Unit to a higher tier.
Updated the Civilopedia entry for Villa to reflect that they can be built in Towns during the Revolt Crisis.
The Civilopedia now contains information on Discoveries when the player searches Civilopedia.
Independent Incite Raid ability information and requirements are now present in the Civilopedia when trying to research the ability.
The "Embark" entry is no longer missing details when attempting to find information about the embarked Movement point.
The incorrect terminology "Clicking" will no longer appear when viewing the "Antiquity: Great Library" Civilopedia entry.

Controller-Specific

The scroll bar no longer loses functionality when viewing another players’ Religion after unlocking new Beliefs.
Cursor no longer loses focus when placing all Towns with the City cards selected in the Place Effects menu.
Placeholder “?” button prompts no longer appear during the Advanced Start settlement placement screen when using an Xbox-layout controller.
R-Stick now has scroll functionality in the Archive box in the Great Works menu.
Players are no longer able to access the diplomatic menu of a leader that has not been met when opening it from the radial menu.

General

(★) Added clarity and quality-of-life improvements to several UI menus and interactions:
- Celebration info is now displayed in the HUD instead of just the Government screen.
- Added option in Settings to allow the City panel to remain open after choosing something to produce.
- The player can now scroll to view all items in the Production queue.
- Changed instances of checkboxes to selectors in Advanced Options for UI consistency.
- The color of a Memento’s icon now aligns with the color of its effect for easier readability.
- Project Research Objectives now visually mark as complete when a step is finished while in the Legacy Paths menu.
(★) Improved menu behavior and visual feedback across multiple screens:
- Global Yields now update immediately when adding a Yield from a select attribute.
- The attribute number icon now disappears after distributing points in the leader menu.
- Cursor no longer remains as the Melee/Ranged attack icon when moving from an enemy Unit to an owned Settlement.
"Accept" and "Support" options are no longer swapped when viewing the "Denounce Military Presence" Diplomatic Action.
Improved game performance and stability on the War Support screen, and when scrolling on the Tech and Civic tree menus.
Addressed a reported issue where a small black square could appear above the lower left corner's overlay where the leader, civ, and Age selection displays.
Addressed a reported issue where a redundant "Support Yourself" button would appear after adding War Support to any AI leader for their war against other AI leaders.

Text Changes

Adjusted the name of Inquisition Crisis policy to Schism.
Incorrect text “Convert to an urban tile” no longer appears when placing a Unique Improvement.
Updated Terrace Farm description and functionality text when playing as Inca.
The Buganda Social Policies Ng’oma and Interlacustrine now display “(Coastal)” text for Kabaka’s Lake, when viewing the Government menu.
Incorrect Treasure Convoy information has been removed from Distant Town’s detail page.
Resolved several localization and display issues affecting text clarity:

Tooltips

(★) Production cost description for Buildings and Wonders now appears in the tooltip in the City production panel.

Narrative

Added 17 new Discovery events in Antiquity and 17 new Discovery events in Exploration.
(★) Enhanced Civilopedia entries with historical accuracy and new character quotes:
- Ada Lovelace and Simón Bolívar now have quotes on their Civilopedia pages.
- Corrected a historical inaccuracy in the Xerxes Civilopedia page.
- Golden Age Academy and Golden Age Amphitheater pages now share historic context with their regular versions.
- Great Britain’s Financial Centre Civilopedia page now has historical context information.
Improved reward clarity for several Events and Discoveries.
The first step in the Geographic Society Legacy Path can no longer be completed prematurely from being granted a free Explorer Unit.
Improved consistency and logic of Event triggers, including:

An Incorrect Answer: Event now triggers correctly after answering Papyrus Problems incorrectly and then building an Academy.

Exploding Earth: Event now triggers when a Settlement tile is damaged by a volcanic eruption.
It’s not a Phase, it’s a Lifestyle: The Event is no longer blocked from triggering if the Social Class Social Policy is active.
Literary Deluge: Event is no longer blocked from triggering if the Literature Social Policy is active.
The Palapa Oath: The Capital now counts as a founded Settlement and contributes towards triggering this event.
The Palapa Oath: Event will now trigger on Advanced Start mode in Exploration.
Shared Practices: Event is no longer blocked from triggering if the Vassalage Social Policy is active.
Shrouded in Mystery: The Event can no longer be incorrectly triggered when the player founds a Religion in the Homeland Continent.
The Sacrilegious Rider: Event now grants Gold at the cost of Culture.
Press Gangs: Event now displays a negative Production icon for the second option.

Audio

Added new Civilization VII Narrator English voiceover lines for the new Loading Screen.
- Dev note: We are currently working on recording and adding in new voiceovers for other languages. We’ll keep you in the loop as these roll out!
Added sound effects for new “Pet the Dog” Unit ability.
Various fixes to missing base game sound effects and improvements to audio feedback.
Added bespoke UI sound design across multiple interface elements.
Updated SFX for controller interactions.
Updated default audio level settings.

Platform-Specific

Linux, macOS

Improved controller functionality when changing bindings in the Options menu.
Improved update slider UI for HDR calibration.

Civilization VII's Steam Workshop is here!

2K Jsteam_community_announcements

400d ago

Civilization VII's Steam Workshop is here!

As part of Update 1.2.2, Steam Workshop support is now live in Civilization VII! With the Civ VII Workshop, you can modify your journey through the Ages in Civilization VII with user-made leaders, civs, maps, Narrative Events, and more, then share them with the Civ community and rate your favorites to help boost their visibility!

There's a massive amount of talent, passion, and creativity in the Civ mod scene, so you're sure to find something exciting while browsing the Civ VII Workshop. Once you've found a mod you'd like to try, hitting the "Subscribe" button on that mod's page will automatically download and enable the mod for use in Civilization VII. You can enable or disable any downloaded mods by going to "Additional Content" in Civilization VII's main menu, then "Add-Ons" to turn any mods on or off!

To help Civ VII mod makers get started, we're including some documentation in the tool, including a few best practices for mods. We’re also adding some simple example mods to the Workshop, made by a few of the folks on the dev team – including popular-modder-turned-Firaxis-developer Sukritact!

We want to expand the functionality for Civ VII modding in the future, with the goal of making it even easier to build your own creations and share them with the world. Please note that the Civilization VII mods you'll find in the Workshop are created by and for the Civ community, and are not officially supported by Firaxis or 2K. Use them at your own risk!

A quick reminder for modders:

When you're creating and sharing mods, please make sure your content follows our User Rules (which you can find in Section 6 of our Terms of Service), for example:

Don’t use content based on someone else’s IP (like characters, music, or art from other games, movies, etc.) unless you have the rights to use it.

Keep content safe and respectful, meaning no harmful, offensive, or inappropriate material.
And of course, no malicious code or anything that could negatively impact the experience for other players.

You can check out our full terms of service here.

We're so excited to be adding the much-requested Steam Workshop to Civilization VII, and we hope you enjoy building something you believe in and sharing it with the rest of the Civ VII community! We can't wait to see what this amazing community will come up with next.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII Out Now!

sar.firaxissteam_community_announcements

532d ago

Today's the day, Civ fans – Sid Meier's Civilization VII is available now! To the entire Civ community, thank you so much for joining us on this journey. We're honored and humbled to be starting this new chapter of Civ history with you, and this is just the beginning of our years-long commitment to Civilization VII. Thanks especially to everyone who has offered feedback and support in the days since Advanced Access began for Deluxe and Founders Edition owners. As we stated in our February 6 message to the Civ community, we're actively listening to all the feedback, and work is already underway on free updates to the game including a UI rework, the addition of community-requested features, and other quality-of-life updates. We're still determining what can be delivered when, so be on the lookout for a detailed roadmap in the future. We're committed to making Civilization VII the best it can be, and your feedback is hugely helpful as we continue to make improvements.

Thank you for being a Civ fan

We can't wait for you to get into the game and start building an empire you believe in – but first, we'd like to share some heartfelt thanks to the entire Civ community from some of the people who made Civilization VII possible: "Today is a monumental day for all of us at Firaxis, and we couldn't let it pass without saying a heartfelt thank you. When Sid Meier started this series over 30 years ago, his vision for Civilization wasn't just about building a great game – it was about creating a canvas where players could shape the world and write their own history. That vision remains at the heart of everything we do, and it's what makes Civilization VII a true collaboration with you, our dedicated fans. On behalf of everyone at Firaxis, thank you for your trust, excitement, and love for this series. Here's to the next chapter of Civilization!" - Heather Hazen, President of Firaxis "The entire Civilization team at Firaxis Games wants to send a big thank you out to our amazing community here on launch day. We are making some bold changes to elevate the Civilization experience in innovative ways, and it has been so rewarding to see the trust our fans have in us when we try something new. We've been hard at work iterating on this new chapter for many years and are confident that we've hit on an amazing new formula you will truly enjoy. What's even better is that we can now begin our direct engagement with you, our fans, to take this new gameplay to even greater heights. Welcome to Civ VII!" - Ed Beach, Creative Director "The journey that we're about to embark on has been years in the making. From the moment Ed Beach uttered the words 'history is built in layers' in late 2019, I knew that we were about to take ourselves and our fans into uncharted waters, and the journey has been filled with moments both challenging and rewarding. The moment everything starts to fall into place is an exciting one in game development, especially knowing that our fans who inspire us are about to encounter something that will challenge them in ways they are not expecting. It's with great excitement that we present to you our vision, and sincerely hope for many long nights taking just one more turn. We'll be there with you every step of the way, as our work is not done. We're just getting started." - Dennis Shirk, Executive Producer "Today's the day! We're thrilled to finally unveil the latest edition of our multi-decade, 4X-leading franchise, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, to the world. It's been years in the making, and we're beyond excited to share our new vision for Civilization. This edition features the most expansive art content we've ever created, capturing thousands of years of human history from across the globe. We can't wait for our fans to dive in, spend countless hours exploring, and craft their own stories that span the history of humanity – and beyond!" - Jason Johnson, Senior Art Director

How to share feedback

If you get into the game and experience any issues, it’s hugely helpful for our team if you submit a ticket through our feedback portal (select Civ VII in dropdown). To see if an issue is already on our radar, you can check out this page for known issues. Steam players are also encouraged to leave feedback and join the conversation in the Civilization VII Steam Discussion forums. As part of our commitment to take in your feedback and keep you updated, we've soft-launched the official Civilization Discord Server for English-speaking players (please mind our dust while we get things settled). This will be a new space for providing feedback, talking with other Civ players, and getting updates directly from the dev team. We're still in beta, so join us while we continue to grow!

Don't miss the Civ World Summit event on February 8!

sar.firaxissteam_community_announcements

544d ago

The worldwide launch of Sid Meier's Civilization VII is just a few weeks away, and we can't wait to see how you build the greatest empire the world has ever known! In any game of Civ VII, empires around the world are all vying for victory – so in the spirit of that global competition, we're hosting the Civ World Summit, a live Civ VII multiplayer showdown between five prominent members of the Civ community! Don't miss this livestream happening February 8 at 5PM CET / 8AM PT / 11AM ET, broadcast live from the XPERION Hamburg in Germany, and hosted by Firaxis Community Manager Sarah and famed Civ YouTuber PotatoMcWhiskey in partnership with Rocket Beans TV. Everyone else should tune in to the Firaxis Games Twitch Channel, Civilization YouTube Channel, or Civilization Facebook Page so you don't miss a single turn.

Roster & Rules

Say hello to the five Civ community members who will be facing off during the Civ World Summit event! Get ready to root for your favorite while Sarah and Potato MC:

The Spiffing Brit
ZeratoR
The Game Mechanic
Ursa Ryan
Maurice Weber

During the Civ World Summit, these five players will be competing in a single free-for-all match spanning the Exploration Age and the Modern Age, with the Game Speed set to Online. There's more than glory at stake, as these challengers are battling to become the first ever Civ World Champion! Occasionally during the broadcast, players will be called to stretch their diplomatic muscles and vie for the audience's favor. This will be your opportunity for live voting across a variety of mystery categories to help decide the players' fates!

Civ World Summit Twitch Drop

As a bonus for everyone watching on Twitch, we're offering a special Twitch Drop reward to commemorate this event, which can be earned by watching the Firaxis Games channel or one of the partnered channels streaming the competition!* Full instructions on how to earn the Cavalry Charge Banner cosmetic for your in-game profile can be found on the Civilization VII Twitch Drops page. We also have an exciting announcement planned during the livestream, so make sure you don't miss it. Good luck to our Civ World Summit competitors, and may the best leader be victorious! See how well you can lead an empire when Civilization VII launches on February 11, 2025. *Requires an internet connection, a Twitch account, and a 2K Account linked to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Rewards must be claimed from Twitch Drops inventory within 24 hours. Rewards will be automatically linked to your 2K Account once claimed via Twitch. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25030453/7d19bae6d22fee179d98ae32f06ac67c199eb7af.jpg

This Week in Civ: Buganda, José Rizal, and Upcoming Livestreams

sar.firaxissteam_community_announcements

550d ago

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

Civ Reveal: Buganda

Introducing Modern Age civ Buganda! Settle your empire nearby lakes and navigable rivers to receive powerful bonuses to Food and Culture, and boost Culture even further when pillaging enemies with Buganda’s unique ability. Check out the full game guide here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45050851/314ef1d034a47b964cbbc8fc3bcdf9eca992358a.jpg

First Look: Jose Rizal

Meet this hero of the Philippines, José Rizal! This leader reaps in benefits from narrative events, and increases the duration and happiness of Celebrations. Check out the latest Game Guide entry to the Civilization website for full details on his attributes and abilities.

Civ Streams: Multiplayer & Post-Launch Coming Jan 30

In an upcoming developer livestream, the devs will be facing off in a Modern Age showdown, and showing off a sneak peak at what players can expect after Civilization VII launches February 11. Join us live on the Firaxis Games Twitch Channel or Civilization YouTube Channel on January 30th at 10 AM PT/ 1 PM ET / 6PM GMT. Full details here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45050851/9beb29abc86455c5950b8adc3d5899af09c89c57.jpg

Civ World Summit: Join us on Feb 8

We're celebrating the launch of Civilization VII in style with the Civ World Summit - a live multiplayer showdown between five incredible members of the Civ community. The event will be hosted by Community Manager Sarah and famed Civ community member PotatoMcWhiskey - in partnership with Rocket Beans TV. Watch live on February 8 at 5PM CET / 8 AM PT / 11AM ET on Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook. Check out the full details here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45050851/7d19bae6d22fee179d98ae32f06ac67c199eb7af.jpg

Coming up…

The next few days are packed as we countdown to release! Keep an eye out for two more First Looks and two new civ guides, and don’t forget to tune in to our next developer livestream on January 30 covering multiplayer and post-launch. We’ll see you here next week, Civ fans!

This Week in Civ: Ben Franklin, Harriet Tubman, and a Modern Age livestream!

sar.firaxissteam_community_announcements

585d ago

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

Civ Reveal: America

Our second Modern Age civ, revealed! America is all about expansion and industry, raking in Gold with its unique ability, Frontier Expansion. Check out the full game guide for all the details. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45050851/114b17d023f517517b29be573fd577b14f574c25.jpg

First Looks: Harriet Tubman & Benjamin Franklin

Two American East Coast heroes take the stage! Harriet Tubman is primed to outwit enemies with speed and espionage, with a powerful ability to ignore movement penalties from dense vegetation. Or, choose diplomat and innovator Ben Franklin - boosting science, diplomacy, and production while managing multiple Endeavors like a true polymath. Check out the game guides here for Harriet Tubman and Ben Franklin.

Modern Age Livestream

That’s a wrap on the Modern Age! In the latest episode of Civ Streams, our devs took a deep dive into what’s coming to Modern, showing off industrialization, railroads, air combat, and more. Also, don’t miss seeing all the big reveals above in action. You can watch the full stream here:

Mac & Linux Requirements

Thanks for the patience of all our Mac and Linux players while we got the system requirements ready for you! We’ve updated our Steam page and added full details on those specs here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45050851/d150d54714dc78b114a22899f16e848bf48662c5.jpg

Coming up…

Happy early holidays, Civ fans! Our devs will be taking a short break from content and recaps to rest up before the final push to February 11th. When we’re back, expect plenty more reveals and updates as we gear up for launch. If you haven’t preordered yet, don’t miss your chance to order the Deluxe or Founder’s Edition of Civilization VII to start playing early on February 6th. Here’s to your next great Golden Age in the New Year. We’ll see you soon!

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI news & patch notes

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI news & patch notes

The Test of Time Update

Civilization III Complete Edition - 80%

Civilization IV Complete Edition - 80%

Civilization V Complete Edition - 75%

Civilization VI - 90%

Civilization VI Anthology Edition - 70%

Beyond Earth - 75%

Marvel’s Midnight Suns - 85%

Marvel’s Midnight Suns Legendary Edition - 80%

Xcom 2 Collection - 80%

Xcom Ultimate Collection 67%

Save 30% on Borderlands 4

Save 40% on Civilization VII

Save 20% on Mafia: The Old Country

Save 70% on NBA 2K26

Save 75% on Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box

Save 67% on Risk Of Rain 2

🔥 New Titles & Major Milestones:

New Titles: Get Borderlands 4 (30% OFF), experience an all-new era of crime with Mafia: The Old Country (20% OFF), and hit the court with NBA 2K26 (67% OFF).

1-Year Anniversary: Celebrate one year of world-building with Civilization VII at 40% OFF!

10-Year Milestone: Gear up for the fight to reclaim Earth as we approach the 10th anniversary of XCOM 2 (look for amazing deals on the XCOM franchise!)

💰 Ultimate Value Collections:

Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box - 75% OFF

Mafia Trilogy - 80% OFF

BioShock: The Collection - 80% OFF

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Anthology - 70% OFF

🕹️ Steam Exclusive: Retro Rewinds Bundle

Save 20% on Borderlands 4

Save 10% on Mafia: The Old Country

Save 67% on Risk of Rain 2

Save 55% on NBA 2K26

Save 20% on Borderlands 4

Save 10% on Mafia: The Old Country Deluxe Edition

Save 67% on Risk of Rain 2

The 2K Summer Sale!

Hot deals on hot games! Cool down with summer savings!

Large and Huge Maps

New Advanced Game Options

New Bonuses for Religion, City-States, and Towns

Steam Workshop

New Loading Screen

Gameplay

New Advanced Game Options

Land-Based Treasure Convoys

AI

Cities & Towns

Independent Powers & City-States

Economy

Age Transition

Diplomacy

Environment

Miscellaneous

Military

Religion

Leaders & Civs

Leaders

Civs

UI/UX

Civilopedia

Controller-Specific

General

Text Changes

Tooltips

Narrative

Audio

Platform-Specific

Linux, macOS

Civilization VII's Steam Workshop is here!

A quick reminder for modders:

Thank you for being a Civ fan

How to share feedback

Roster & Rules

Civ World Summit Twitch Drop

Civ Reveal: Buganda

First Look: Jose Rizal

Civ Streams: Multiplayer & Post-Launch Coming Jan 30

Civ World Summit: Join us on Feb 8

Coming up…