Civilization VI Announced, Releasing in October

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Civilization VI Announced, Releasing in October


2K and Firaxis Games announced today that Sid Meier's Civilization VI is currently in development for PC... and it's releasing this year.

2K and Firaxis Games announced today that Sid Meier's Civilization VI is currently in development for PC. The game will be launching on October 21 (the same day as Battlefield 1 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167374-Battlefield-1-World-War-1-Shooter-Launch-Trailer#&gid=gallery_6222&pid=1]), and brings with it promises of expansive empires, diplomacy, and "enhanced multiplayer" where you can "cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session."

Here's the full list of features promised:

EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain.
ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization's progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.
DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.
COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the "one unit per tile" design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful "Corps" units.
ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session.
A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems introduce new players to the underlying concepts so they can easily get started.

"Sid Meier's Civilization games hold a reputation for defining the 4X gaming genre for the past 25 years," said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. "We can't think of a better way to celebrate the silver anniversary of our longest-running franchise than launching the eagerly anticipated Sid Meier's Civilization VI, which will provide the most detailed, beautiful and complete experience ever featured in a Civilization game."

"Sid Meier's Civilization VI builds on the firm foundation of the Civilization franchise, and we've added many exciting new elements," said Ed Beach, lead designer at Firaxis Games. "The visual presentation of the game is inspired by the maps and tools of the Age of Exploration, and we've made several key gameplay changes such as expansive cities and active research that makes Sid Meier's Civilization VI an entirely unique experience while remaining true to what makes the Civilization series so special."

The game will cost $59.99/?49.99/€59.99, and is available for pre-order on Windows PC now. The game will also include four post-launch DLC packs that will include new maps, scenarios, civilizations and leaders.

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Permalink

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh yeah. You better believe I want dat multi-tile metropolis.

 

[Erttheking]

*Spits* Well that came out of nowhere.

I'm feeling slightly skeptical though. I'm a big fan of Civ V but Beyond Earth is still getting some negative flak. I hope they learned from that. I like the idea of combined arms tactics style gameplay, here's hoping they can make that good. And multiple tile cities? Fuck yeah!

 

[Zontar]

Oh god my eyes, what the hell am I looking at in those pictures?

Anyway I'm not particularly optimistic about this given Civ V and Beyond Earth. Getting rid of stacked units made no sense mechanically and within the context of what is happening, and I despised the massively smaller maps. That's before we get into the details of the streamlined gameplay and mechanics that ended up like 95% of such streamlining where it was to the detriment of the quality of the game.

I keep going back to Civ 4 for a reason, and I'd like a new Civ that takes what worked in that game and updates it instead of ignoring it and making it an in-name-only continuation of the series.

 

[Saelune]

*Spits* Well that came out of nowhere.

I'm feeling slightly skeptical though. I'm a big fan of Civ V but Beyond Earth is still getting some negative flak. I hope they learned from that. I like the idea of combined arms tactics style gameplay, here's hoping they can make that good. And multiple tile cities? Fuck yeah!

Not really out of nowhere. A lot of talk of Civ 6 in the Civ 5 steam forum.


Seems a focus on multiplayer and more aggressive playing. I guess I better get to work though. I'm halfway through all the achievements, and theres still tons to go. (In V that is)

 

[gigastar]

Im guessing half this stuff means theyre taking pointers from Endless Legend.

Which they absolutely should, in the case of unit management.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Can't say I like the

 

[putowtin]

For the love of Chuck those maps look like the Sims 4!

My eyes ,my beautiful eyes!
Oh well back to CivIV

 

[Gennadios]

I should be excited but I'm kind of not. Firaxis shat the bed with BE, and I liked the XComs but it lacked depth in the features that appeal to me.

On the other hand, that feature list is mighty sexy, even if lifted directly from Paradox's playbook.

 

[spartandude]

WHOOOOO! Yeah this looks awesome I can't- Wait I'm still miffed about Beyond Earth and how they seem to be willing let it go than fix it. You have some convincing to do here Firaxis.

 

[RJ 17]

I wonder if this is going to be a big heaping pile of disappointment like that Civ In Space game was.

 

[Li Mu]

How about fixing the AI?

I hate how increasing the difficulty doesn't incease enemy AI, it just gives them cheat mode.
Giving them bonuses and giving you penalties sucks, in my humble opinion. How about just having them play better?

 

[Recusant]

So they're boasting "cities expand to cover multiple tiles" like we've had codified since Civ 3. Speeding advancement by "use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures", like we've been doing since the first game. Sticking with the "one unit per tile" system that failed so badly in Civ 5 and failed just as badly in Beyond Earth. After the debacle that was Civ 5, I'd come to hope the series was going to be like the Star Trek movies; the even-numbered ones are just better. Now I'm more dubious.

Also, Mister Beach? Or, as you'd probably prefer to be called, Mister Sid Meier Ed Sid Meier Beach Sid Meier? We know who's behind the game. If you're old enough for the Civilization series to have nostalgia appeal, you know who Sid Meier is. If you're not, the name's not going to mean anything to you.

 

[Tsaba]

As excited as I am, I'm still a little burned after Beyond Earth

 

[Tiamat666]

I'm excited, but cautious.

Those screenshots however... a bit too cartoonish, no? Looks a bit like "Civilization: Warcraft Edition"

 

[ultrabiome]

Im guessing half this stuff means theyre taking pointers from Endless Legend.

Which they absolutely should, in the case of unit management.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Especially with the latest expansions, where there are now special districts, some of which must be on anomalies (special bonus tiles), others on strategic resources or luxuries, which is similar to Civ6's building management.

But Civ6 has nothing on the world building of Endless Legend. Elevation changes with clear impacts on cities and battles and each region being distinct in both topography and resource allocation, not to mention the native "people".

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Interested in how the cities spreading across the map will work. Will there be limits on what you can build meaning you have to specialize cities more? Or can you just say screw the greenbelt Urban sprawl for everyone?

Glad they are sticking with one unit per tile, or a hybrid of it at least. I love Civ IV but the stacks of doom took the fun out of wars in the late game.

Not sure about that art style. Nice and colourful but at a glance looks similar to something like Godus or that Civ game they release on consoles that we do not talk about.

 

[Zulnam]

Lol ya, nice try. BE is still bugged like hell and crashing on deep end game turns thanks to you.

Oh and diplomacy? Why not just come out clean and admit that after Civ4 the last guy that knew how to do it left and since then you've been programming AI based on youtube tutorials.

Or are you accepting imaginary money? If that is the case, i accept your imaginary features.

 

[Naldan]

Can't play a Civ anymore without religion. After Gods and Kings, and especially after BnW, Civ V got me finally loving it instead of IV, which I also loved after BTS.

And this is a first in that I got a bit disappointed in the mere looks of a Civ game. But that could get modded away.

But I'd advise anyone to be careful with this one if you care about DLC policies. They did some mighty stupid stuff in Civ V's DLC in the beginning.

 

[Hochmeister]

Oh hey, a new Civ! Wow those features seem cool, I've always thought multi-tile cities would be great, and the ideas for units seem really interesting. What could possibly - [sees screenshots]

http://6.darkroom.shortlist.com/980/73729fcc49e5778022c2214858532c0e:2242abb88c22cf80e6ce3d4342cc012a/candle3.jpg

Aww hell no!

One step forward, one step back Firaxis.