Civilization 7 Finally Lets You Keep The Same Civ Across All Ages

It's an unofficial rite of passage for any new Civilization game to be hated by fans at launch, and the same is true for Civilization 7.

While I saw the vision at launch, as noted in my review, I, like many, did not fully come around. There are so many reasons why Civ 7hasn't resonated with fans, and arguably the biggest one was the inability to remain one Civ throughout the game.

You see, the big change in Civilization VII is the introduction of its three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. While the idea of an Age in Civ isn't necessarily new, they work vastly differently here. Once you enter a new Age, it's like starting a brand new game. While your Empire and Leader carry over to a new age, your actual civilization does not. Additionally, you couldn't carry over past accomplishments. Sure, you can keep various military, economic, cultural, and scientific legacy policies, as well as move your capital city to some wild card slots, but it ultimately felt like a brand new game was starting.I understand the logic behind the change. The beginning of a game is arguably the best part of Civ, and Firaxis wanted to constantly capture that feeling. Unfortunately, they didn't stick the landing, and with an update due later this month, they're finally waving the white flag.

Take-Two CEO on Civ 7: "We Got It Wrong"

Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Civilization 7 publisher Take-Two, recently spoke with Game File about a variety of topics. With the upcoming Civ 7 patch due on May 19th, the topic of the game's failure to find a long-term audience came up. He explains that with every new game in the franchise, developer Firaxis asks itself one important question:

How do we push the envelope far enough that it makes sense to buy this new game? And how do we preserve what people love enough so that they’re not disaffected?’ And we got it wrong with Civ VII, but it wasn’t for want of trying.

He acknowledges that the team has made several updates to the game, and will continue to do so. "The game is a really good game," he states. " And it’s certainly a profitable enterprise for us. But this is one where I think what we tried to do was a bridge too far, from the consumer’s perspective."

From the very beginning, fans have pushed back against Civ 7's massive changes and overall lack of polish. At the time of writing, the game still has Mixed reviews on Steam, though fans are optimistic about the upcoming changes. The May 19th update will also feature another welcome change involving Victories. They have been completely reworked to ensure that winning in Civ 7 is "defined by successfully making interesting choices and giving you as many paths as possible to pursue greatness."

There's a good chance that, like clockwork, Civ 7 will eventually find its stride, and we'll start this song and dance once again whenever Civ 8 launches.