Interview: Civilization VII’s devs on the big update meant to win critics back
It has been difficult at times for new mainline releases in the Civilization series of games to win over new players right out of the gate. For Civilization VII—which launched just shy of one year ago—the struggles seemed to go deeper, with some players saying it didn't feel like a Civilization game.
Civ VII’s developers, Firaxis Games, announced today it is planning an update this spring called "Test of Time" that rethinks a few unpopular changes, in some cases replacing key mechanics from the original release.
I spoke with Ed Beach, the Civilization franchise's creative director, as well as Dennis Shirk, its executive producer, about what's changing, the team's interpretation of the player backlash to the choices in the initial release, and Firaxis and 2K's plans for the future of the Civilization model.