Civilization VII: Release date, price and everything you need to know

Firaxis has released a number of important details about Sid Meier’s Civilization VIIwhich will likely be one of the biggest game releases of 2025.

Almost nine years after the release of Civilization VIIt’s been a long wait for fans of the strategy series, but there’s a lot to look forward to, including a major gameplay overhaul, a new narrator, and more.

Here are all the important details about Civilization VII released so far. And if you can’t wait until next year for a new challenge, check out my guide to three new strategy games that could fill the gap until then Civilization VII is with us.

Civilization VII release date and price

Civilization VII will be released on February 11, 2025.

For the first time in the game’s history, it will be a simultaneous multi-platform release, coming simultaneously to PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.

You can pre-order the game now on stores like Steam and the Epic Games Store. The base version of the game costs a whopping $69.99 in the US and £59.99 in the UK.

More expensive Deluxe and Founders Editions are also available for pre-order.

Civilization VII Narrator

One can say civilization has one of the biggest budgets in the industry for strategy games and this usually goes so far that a star is hired as a narrator for the game.

Star Trek Actor Leonard Nimoy narrated for Civilization IVfor example, and game of Thrones Star Sean Bean was the voice of Civilization VI.

It is another game of Thrones Actor who will tell Civilization VII also, this time Gwendoline Christie. The British actress played Brienne of Tarth in game of Thrones and also appeared in the Star Wars film The Force Awakens, among many other films.

Civilization Game Features

Firaxis has released a 25-minute video (embedded above) showing the gameplay of Civilization VII for the first time.

The video provides a lot of insight and shows some significant changes in the gameplay compared to Civilization VI.

The biggest difference is that the leaders are disconnected from the civilizations. Civilization VIFor example, if you wanted to play as the American Empire, you had to rely on Teddy Roosevelt as the leader of the empire.

This is not the case with Civilization VII, where the leaders are interchangeable, allowing for many more game scenarios. There will also be a wider range of figureheads to play as, including now religious and scientific leaders.

However, while the number of leaders has increased, the number of eras has decreased significantly. There are now only three eras in the game: Ancient, Discovery, and Modern. These will now be referred to as Ages, and there will be a clear distinction between the different ages, with buildings, troops, and technologies restricted to their respective time periods.

However, these ages also provide starting points where players can actually change their civilization mid-game. You can also play shorter games limited to one age, meaning not every game has to be a 500-round marathon. This could be particularly attractive for multiplayer games, although Firaxis hasn’t mentioned anything about multiplayer support at this point.

Other changes highlighted in the first gameplay video include a revamped and much more detailed diplomacy system. The diplomatic aspect was definitely missing a bit Civilization VIbut in the new game, you can make finer agreements with your fellow rulers and spend gold, culture or science points to make a better deal.

Conflicts have also been visually and tactically revised. Wars with other civilizations now resemble real battles in which entire hordes of troops come into action. It will also be easier to move multiple units to the front instead of having to move each unit individually or as a small fleet.

The sound is not neglected either. To accompany Gwendoline Christie’s stories, Christopher Tin once again composes the game’s music, creating unique soundtracks for each civilization in the game.

Firaxis has promised to reveal many more details in upcoming videos, so look forward to a steady stream of more details arriving between now and February.