We had every reason to suspect so, but Now it’s official, Firaxis is already developing Civilization VII, the upcoming new installment of Civilization, the oldest and most iconic turn-based strategy game saga. It seems unbelievable, but more than 30 years have passed since the first Sid Meier’s Civilization saw the light of day and entered the market at the hands of MicroProse, in September 1991. More than three decades, during which the franchise adds experience (albeit with occasional stumbles) and has established itself as an absolute leader in its market.

Turn-based strategy is not a genre for everyone. Faced with the agility and rhythm of real-time strategy, in which dexterity of response is more important than planning, in a turn-based game, as in chess, we must plan moves based on the prediction of the moves we anticipate from the opponent. will perform This translates into a more contemplative and relaxed experience than, for example, what other sagas such as Age of Empires offer us. However, if the slower pace isn’t a problem for you, then you’re probably part of the club that likes hour-long game sessions and move planning.

I said at the beginning that we have quite a few reasons to think so, since Civilization VI, the most recent installment so far, came out on October 21st, 2016, so it will soon be seven years. It’s true that during this time it received several expansions and other additions, which have extended their life on the market, but even so, we have to go back to the early parts of the saga to find releases that far back in time (although I specify that to make this metric I include both Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and Sid Meier’s Beyond Earth in the complete list sagas). This means that the complete saga, counting both titles, would look like this:

• civilization: September 1991
• Civilization II: May 1998
• Alpha Centauri: February 1999
• Civilization III: April 2002
• Civilization IV: October 2005
• Civilization V: September 2010
• civilization: Beyond Earth: October 2014
• Civilization VI: October 2016

So as you can see there was only a time span of about seven years between the first and second installments, since then the maximum separation is five years. And like I said, while expansions allow games to live longer, some of us have taken it for granted for some time now that the studio should have started work on Civilization VII.

The good news is that this is finally no longer an assumption, but a confirmed fact. The company released a statement informing about the internal movements, specifically about the promotion of Heather Hazen as the new head of the study. This movement is of course important, but what is most interesting is found in one of Hazen’s statements, which we can find in the mentioned text:

«I am thrilled to have this opportunity to continue the legendary legacy of the studio, starting with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchisesays Hazen. «I am fortunate to work with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights for our millions of players around the world..

In fact, he is using the announcement of his appointment to make the first official announcement Firaxis is already developing Civilization VII, a new iteration of the saga. There are no further details about it, no dates, and no preview of what we can find in it, but it is interesting that the first title he mentioned in his statements was Civilization VII, even before his recent and quite successful Marvel’s Midnight Suns or the reference XCOM, which are also mentioned in the mentioned text.

So very good news for all those who (we have) stole hours from studying, sleeping and in some cases from work singing the well-known “Come on, another few shifts”. Will we stumble again with the next part of the saga? Everyone has their own personal answer to that question, but in my case I am very clear and no, it won’t be two turns, it will be at least five.