'Civilization 7' Gets A Release Date And A Gameplay Trailer

Video Games

Aug 23

4X fans across the board were treated with the first trailer for one of the longest-running series in PC history two months ago. Now, with Gamescom 2024 up and running, they were treated to another trailer showing the game running for the first time, granting fans a preview of the upcoming changes and civilizations available.

One of the first differences noted between VII and VI are the artistic changes. VI saw a more rounded and arcade-style rendition on the screen, VII takes the brightness back to a more realistic overture to the imagery. Take a look below:

PC Gamer sat down with the game and found a number of major changes that are coming to the franchise, aside from the visual changes to the art style.

For example, one thing you’ll notice in the trailer is a boat moving along a river. That’s right, navigable rivers are now a thing, forever changing the tactical landscape of the game. Speaking of the tactical changes, units no longer gain experience. Instead, the experience is given to a new unit called a Commander. The Commander plays a passive role, buffing nearby units.

RELATED:

Featured

What Has Been Made Into LEGO Video Games And What We Want To See In The Future

Other gameplay changes seem to be borrowing from other games, like not having to stick with the same civilization throughout the game now. The timeline will be separated into three epochs (Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern), and at each of these, players can change their civilization in context to their previous civilization, making some civilizations available at different eras.

One of the most prominent features of the game is city building and expanding your empire. Fans of the previous games will note that workers are no longer a thing, and tile improvements are now just placed down. Furthermore, cities aren’t founded but towns are, and production is turned into gold, which is used to advance and buy units and developments.

Finally, religion and natural disasters are holdovers from the Civilization VI expansions, but a new feature that found its way into VII is influence. Influence seems somewhat like the diplomacy power with global governance that was found in the previous game. This time, it can be used to exert good actions upon neighboring powers or bad ones like sanctions, and now, barbarians are out, and independent nations are in.

Civilization VII will be released on February 11, 2025, on PC and all other major platforms, a series first.