A look at the popular game franchise and my take on the next iteration of the series.

Introduction

It is now April and Firaxis Studios is closing the chapter on the New Frontier Pass, the year long bombardment of premium DLC and content interlaced with free updates to Civilization VI. The experiment brought some interesting content that enhance the game that, traditionally, would be considered at the end of its life cycle. Originally released in October of 2016, Civ 6 was an interesting iteration of the strategy franchise even in its vanilla state.

The game brought a lot of interesting changes and additions to the franchise, and carried over (and in some cases, improved) previous features. However, the game is not without its flaws. Two expansions and a variety of DLC, not to mention the aforementioned premium season pass that has been constantly injecting new life into the game this past year. While those additions did a lot for bringing adjustments to the game, it did not correct all its flaws, and even added a few (perhaps minor ones) more in the process.

Still, the game keeps drawing me back as I battle with the “age” old struggle of “one more turn.” The concept of taking a scrawny settler and single warrior and founding a city, then expanding it throughout the ages to ultimately become the dominant civilization has long been an intriguing one. The game instilled a love of history in me wanting more.

Now that the pass is over, the question arises, “what of the future for Civilization VI and the franchise as a whole?” Will the traditional life cycle of approximately 5 years prevail as development of the next iteration is long underway behind closed doors? Or will the developers continue to build upon what they have provided in VI and introduce another expansion or season pass? To be honest, the latter has me a bit worried. The game is quite full of complex systems that even sometimes have a hard time cooperating as they were not developed together. With that in mind, I have begun thinking of what my ideal version would be if I developed the next iteration of Civilization (hey… 7 is my favorite number).

Over the next few days, I will be releasing a series of blogs dedicated to this idea. The direction that I would like to see Civilization VII go. Some of my ideas can be quite a bit controversial. However, I feel that these would be an interesting change that would prevent the next just being a glorified rehash of previous versions. Before I get to the nuts and bolts, however, I feel a bit of background is in order. Tomorrow, I will post a general overview of my history with the franchise so that you see where I am coming from. After that, I will get into the nuts and bolts of what MY idea of the franchise would look like. So buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride.

Links

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 1

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 2

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 3

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 4

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 5

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 6