Firaxis Games is releasing Sid Meier’s Civilization VII in February 2025 and there’s growing excitement about what is to come. Information currently available suggests a new Age system, new leaders, and new environmental designs.
Checkpoint Gaming had the chance to sit down for two interviews with some of the team to learn more about what is coming. First, they sat down with Andrew Frederiksen, the Lead Producer to get more details about the new gameplay that Civilization VII offers. This was followed by an interview with Ryan Andrade (Lead Concept Artist), John Fitzgerald (Lead Unit Artist), and Matthew Quickel (Lead Environment Artist) to discuss the design decisions for the upcoming release.
Sitting down with Andrew, he first talked about the need to move from Civ VI to Civ VII. Civ VI has been a big success, and Andrew talked about how Civ VII was the opportunity to implement changes that Civ VI couldn’t accommodate. This is seen with the new Ages as there are only three compared to previous titles. Previously, you progressed through an era based on the social or technological progress you made. Now, the Ages are an accurate representation of the three stages that many civilizations progressed through during their lifetimes.
Something unique about the game is civilizations can evolve by going through different ages. Every civilization is unique to an age and you choose another as you progress. Your leader choice, starting civilization, and available resources determine what civilizations you can choose. In previous games, you could only choose one civilization for the entire length of a game. Now, you get several options to mix and match for different strategies. “I feel like this is consistent with how Civ was played in the past,” said Andrew. This gives players flexibility to combine things that they couldn’t previously do.
Adding in new mechanics and features makes Civ VII even more complex. Our next question inquired about potential first-time players. This could also include people who are casual players of Civ who may have to re-learn several concepts. Fortunately, Andrew mentioned that Civ VII is a great starting point for new players because of the effort spent making the first-time user experience special.
“We have put more energy and effort and time and resources into the – we call it the FTUE, the First Time User Experience, the tutorialization. Our tutorial is not a separate thing, it’s woven into the game. So you leave it on, you’re playing a regular game of Civ but we’re helping you learn as you play. That way, you don’t have to learn the stuff and then play it for real. You learn the stuff and play it for real at the same time. Whether you are learning just the new stuff or learning the whole game, we made design decisions to make some of that a little better, but still feel like a good experience on your tenth, one-hundredth playthrough.”
The new Ages also make it easier for newer players to learn. You have several smaller objectives to work towards instead of one large plan. Instead of being clueless and hoping you do the right thing, working towards these objectives gives you guidance. In-game advisors make recommendations that help you try something new or guide you in the right direction.
The second interview was with Ryan, John, and Matthew as we discussed the design choices. Ryan talked about “readable realism”, where you can zoom in while you are playing and appreciate the details. At the same time, you want to zoom out and capture the full landscape. John talked about capturing the culture of each unit and civilization, including all the cultural variations they could. Matthew dived into readable realism, talking about how dioramas were the inspiration for that concept.
When talking about the Age system and the potential shift in design, Matthew elaborated on the design choices as there were many combinations. John elaborated that some changes from previous ages are kept, sometimes mixing with the new civilization. Wonders, just like they were in past games, stay constant as a sign of your history. When it came to the units and buildings, the design process focused on recreating as many of the designs as possible.
Sid Meier’s Civilization always has wonderful environments and the next question was about improving on existing designs. Matthew discussed the goal of providing a more immersive experience to players given new capabilities of technology.
“One of the big things moving from 6 to 7 was we wanted to create more organic and cohesive looking cities, that you got the idea that you had this urban sprawl that happened. Districts did that too, a lot less of an extent in 6 but we expanded on that. The designers came up with a great plan to use, to create these rural and urban plot types to make these cities feel more organic. That was a huge undertaking for us, how we can make that cohesive again.”
He continued, explaining that there are height elevations for the first time to pair with new gameplay mechanics. By working with the design team, there were lots of decisions that benefited the game.
There was a lot of good insight from everyone and it really showed the depth of work that goes into creating these games. Even though Civilization is an established game, the team is constantly pushing the envelope to improve the experience. Civilization VII is coming out in February 2025, with more leaders and exciting gameplay combinations. If you haven’t touched a Civ game before or are looking to jump back into the franchise, now is a great opportunity.
Civilization VII launches February 11, 2025 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
About the Author
Victor Tan
He/Him
Victor spends his time trying to help players out of tricky situations and give them the guidance they need to succeed. Outside of the video game world, you can find him training at the gym or doing simple improv activities.
