Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 developer breaks down the new leader mechanics, “it’s one of the biggest changes we’ve made to the game and one of the scariest”
Sid
Meier’s
Civilization
7,
the
next
entry
in
the
long-running
strategy
franchise,
is
shaping
up
to
be
a
massive
departure
from
everything
that
came
before
it.
The
upcoming
game
will
feature
a
dramatically
overhauled
civilization
system
that
will
allow
you
to
mix
and
match
leaders
and
cultures
to
create
your
own
unique
take
on
history.
Each
playthrough
will
also
be
split
into
distinct
eras:
the
Antiquity
Age,
Exploration
Age,
and
Modern
Age.
All
three
present
their
own
challenges,
with
exclusive
civilizations
to
play
in
addition
to
period-appropriate
resources,
civics,
technologies,
buildings,
and
units
to
discover.
The
transitions
between
these
eras
will
offer
the
chance
to
select
a
fresh
civilization,
with
a
range
of
options
determined
by
your
previous
choices.
Those
who
start
as
ancient
Egypt
in
the
Antiquity
Age,
for
example,
might
soon
find
themselves
presented
with
the
opportunity
to
command
the
Shawnee
once
the
Exploration
Age
is
underway.
Speaking
to
Dennis
Shirk,
series
veteran
and
executive
producer
of
Civilization
7
at
developer
Firaxis
Games,
following
a
brief
hands-on
session
at
Gamescom
2024,
I’m
eager
to
find
out
what
these
new
features
will
add
to
the
overall
experience.
Layers
of
history
(Image
credit:
2K)
“It’s
one
of
the
biggest
changes
we’ve
made
to
the
game
and
one
of
the
scariest
in
terms
of
changing
Civilization,
something
that’s
so
consistent,”
Shirk
explains,
“that
point
A
to
point
B
leader
and
civ
all
the
time
is
not
the
way
it
was
in
the
real
world
and
[creative
director
Ed
Beach]
really
wanted
to
try
to
model
that.”
“He
used
ancient
Rome,
the
Roman
Empire,
as
his
prime
example
when
he
pitched
the
game.
In
antiquity,
for
example,
you
have
ancient
Rome
in
the
real
world
expanding
new
ideas,
advancing,
having
their
own
golden
ages,
as
a
gameplay
term
so
to
speak,
and
eventually
they
got
too
big.
Internal
crises
hit,
corruption,
economic
crises,
could
be
plague.
They
had
barbarians
at
the
gates
who
came
in,
invaded,
split
the
empire,
and
eventually
scattered
to
the
wind,”
he
continues.
“Those
seeds
of
Romanism,
the
Roman
Empire
are
everywhere,
throughout
Europe,
North
Africa,
and
some
places
in
the
rest
of
the
world.”
Although
it
will
allow
for
some
unconventional
combinations,
the
intention
is
for
these
ages
and
transitions
to
reflect
“how
the
people
and
the
culture
traveled
and
traversed
the
globe
and
the
influences
they
had
on
each
other”
in
real
life.
(Image
credit:
2K)
In
addition
to
changing
your
civilization,
ages
will
also
affect
your
chosen
leader.
“Leaders
have
their
own
abilities,
separate
from
the
civs,”
Shirk
says.
“Each
leader
has
an
attribute
tree
that
is
unique
to
them.
So
you
can
actually
tailor
your
leader
as
you
play
through
all
three
ages.
“You’re
going
to
continue
to
fine
tune
that
leader
based
on
attributes
that
you
earn
through
playing
and
make
them
something
a
little
bit
more
unique.
We’ve
also
added
in
alternative
leaders,
leaders
in
their
fields
that
are
visionary
and
awesome
in
their
particular
fields
of
play.
This
allows
us
to
include
a
lot
more
personalities
than
we’ve
been
able
to
before.
The
further
back
you
go
in
history,
it’s
mainly
bearded
men,
and
this
allows
us
to
have
a
lot
more
of
a
selection
in
that
process
and
a
lot
more
‘What
if’
scenarios
for
the
player.”
The
three
distinct
ages
will
also
dramatically
affect
the
overall
pace
and
flow
of
Civilization
7.
“Everybody
likes
playing
the
first
100
turns
of
Civ,”
Shirk
begins,
detailing
some
telemetry
data
that
shows
many
players
tend
to
“stop
and
start
over
to
play
through
that
Age
of
Discovery
again.”
By
focusing
on
three
clearly
defined
eras,
every
age
can
now
offer
a
similar
sense
of
discovery
and
excitement.
“In
the
first
age
you
can’t
cross
the
oceans,
but
you’re
exploring
your
continent.
Then
the
Second
Age
opens
up.
You
get
to
another
advanced
level
of
shipbuilding,
for
example,
and
now
you
can
traverse
the
oceans.
You’re
trying
to
find
the
New
World,
and
there’s
other
civilizations
there
that
you’re
going
to
meet
for
the
first
time.
Then
in
the
Modern
Age,
we’re
going
to
have
something
similar,
this
new
sense
of
discovery,”
he
says.
It’s
a
complex
system
that
Shirk
believes
was
put
together
“with
care
and
with
time
and
with
effort”
and
“means
that
we
have
a
whole
new
experience
for
our
fans.”
He
warns
that
“something
that
worked
in
Civ
4,
5,
and
6
will
not
work
this
time,”
and
that
Civilization
7
is
“a
new
puzzle
to
unlock.”
An
even
playing
field
(Image
credit:
2K)
Civilization
7
might
dramatically
alter
the
series
formula,
but
it’s
some
of
the
smaller
changes
that
will
likely
be
the
most
enticing
for
long-time
fans.
“One
of
our
[design]
pillars
is
making
sure
that
all
decisions
should
be
interesting,”
Shirk
reveals,
“we
can’t
catch
them
all,
but
we
can
certainly
sweep
a
lot
up.”
The
new
commander
system
is
a
key
example
of
this,
removing
many
of
the
frustrations
associated
with
maintaining
a
large
army.
“When
you
have
like
40
different
units
spread
across
the
map,
commanders
group
up
these
armies
and
move
them
easily
and
deploy
them
somewhere
else,”
he
says.
“Orders
to
focus
fire
so
that
you
can
simply
press
one
button
and
have
all
the
ranged
units
in
your
army
and
that
sphere
of
influence
fire
at
the
same
target,
the
ability
to
reinforce
easily
from
far
away,
the
ability
to
pack
up
an
army
and
camp
it
somewhere
so
that
you
can
use
it
when
you
need
to
without
having
units
scattered
and
cluttering
up
your
territory.
All
of
these
things
were
to
alleviate
some
of
the
tedium
that
you
get
when
you’re
managing
an
empire.”
Shirk
also
details
how
the
Ages
system
will
ensure
a
more
enjoyable
experience
in
a
multiplayer
setting:
“In
the
Modern
Age
[in
past
games],
sometimes
because
it’s
snowballed
so
much
you’re
so
far
ahead
that
you’re
just
getting
through
the
turns
to
get
to
the
victory.
Nobody’s
going
to
catch
up.
With
the
Ages
system
[…]
you’re
always
playing
with
other
civilizations
at
the
height
of
their
power.”
Rather
than
each
civilization
having
abilities
that
are
only
useful
at
certain
points
in
a
long
match,
now:
“you’re
no
longer
playing
perhaps
a
people
that
already
had
their
uniques
passed
by.
You
actually
have
a
new
challenge,
because
they
have
a
new
set
of
unique
units.
You
have
people
that
are
relatively
on
par
with
where
you’re
at.
Even
though
you
have
a
leg
up,
you
might
have
come
through
really
well
from
the
last
Age,
[…]
we
like
to
think
that
by
doing
this,
we’re
giving
you
new
and
interesting
decisions
with
each
separate
age.
No
more
of
the
tedium.
You
might
have
some
snowballing,
because
you’re
playing
very
well,
but
not
nearly
as
much
as
you’ve
had
in
the
past.”
While
my
time
with
the
game
was
too
brief
to
come
to
a
definitive
conclusion,
I
did
notice
that
much
of
Civilization
7
felt
pleasantly
streamlined
and
intuitive.
I’m
excited
to
discover
what
else
it
will
bring
to
the
table
when
it
launches
for
PC,
PlayStation
5,
PlayStation
4,
Xbox
Series
X,
Xbox
Series
S,
Xbox
One,
and
Nintendo
Switch
on
February
6,
2025.
