Start scheduling time off: Civilization 7 is releasing in February

Civilization 7 — Official Reveal Trailer | gamescom 2024 This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

People hoping to take off time from life thanks to Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 can finally start making some plans. At Gamescom Opening Night Live, 2K Games announced that the 4X strategy game staple will be releasing on February 11, 2025.

You can preorder the game now if you’re absolutely sure you want to disappear from the world for at least a month. The standard edition will cost $70 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox, and it’s $60 on Nintendo Switch and PC (the Tecumseh and Shawnee packs are included). There’s also a deluxe edition available that’ll cost $100 on PS5 and Xbox and $90 on Switch and PC. The more expensive bundle comes with everything in the standard edition, along with five days of early access. Finally, there’s a Founders Edition for $130 on PC (other store pages haven’t been updated at the time of this writing).

This first look at Gamescom, which will be followed by a solo presentation, also revealed the initial peek at gameplay. It looks a lot like recent Civilization releases, although the visuals have gotten an obvious overhaul. Firaxis notes in the product description on Steam that there are other gameplay improvements: the tutorial has been reworked for newcomers, and game veterans will enjoy improved progression, which includes being able to carry over across multiple rounds.

Firaxis creative director Ed Beach said this is the “biggest, most ambitious” title the company has ever developed, so we assume there will be a lot to announce over the coming months.

While Civilization 7 was announced during Summer Game Fest this year, we didn’t learn much of anything about it. The CGI cinematic teaser panned over some familiar world landmarks like the Great Sphinx of Giza, but otherwise, there was no other information revealed. However, 2K promised that there would be a full reveal in August and a release window in 2025.