Civilization VII Announced As Firaxis Introduces New Studio Head

Firaxis and 2K Games have announced that Sid Meier's Civilization VII is in development. The turn-based strategy franchise debuted in 1991 but has not seen a new mainline installment since 2016. Created by veteran developer Sid Meier, the Civilization series tasks players with building an empire. Evolving their culture from the Stone Age to the Information Age, players will encounter some of history's greatest leaders, including Julius Cesar, Teddy Roosevelt, and Gandhi. The player can ally with these other empires or conquer them as they grow their culture from sticks and stones to nuclear energy.

 

Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be spearheaded by Creative Director Ed Beach, and incoming Studio Head Heather Hazen. Hazen, who joined Firaxis as Chief Operating Officer in 2020, has previously been an Executive Producer on games including Fortnite, Plants vs Zombies, and Bejeweled. She is replacing Steve Martin, who is leaving the studio after more than 25 years; on his departure, he wrote that he is "proud of the legacy of games Firaxis has created and its reputation in the industry." 

Likewise, the former Creative Director of the XCOM franchise and the recently released superhero game Marvel's Midnight Suns, Jake Solomon, is also leaving the studio. On Twitter he expressed his gratitude to Sid Meier and said that he "loved designing tactical turn-based games", but it was "time for other, smarter people to push that space forward."

As for Firaxis, Hazen says that the studio has "plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights". While Marvel's Midnight Suns hasn't set the sales world on fire, it has been highly praised critically, and Firaxis "will continue to support [the game] with post-launch content", including a Venom-centric DLC releasing on February 23rd.

 

Alex Johnson (@AlexJohnWriting)
News Editor, NoobFeed