Civilization VII

Civilization VII is a 4X turn-based strategy game. The player oversees the growth of a human civilization from its earliest settlements to advanced society. The player uses various military and civilian units to explore the map, grow their civilization through the founding of additional settlements, advance their civilization's culture and technology, utilize surrounding resources, and contend or collaborate with competing civilizations. Multiple victory conditions are available to the player, including military, scientific, cultural, and economic avenues.

Civilization VII allows the player to select leaders and civilizations independently, with civilizations favoring leaders with certain attributes. The criteria for what constitutes a "leader" have also been updated, now including philosophers, religious figures, and scientists who were not heads of state. The historical era system is simplified into the antiquity, exploration, and modern ages, in comparison to the further divisions implemented by the game's predecessors. During all ages, independent factions—deliberately labeled to prevent perceived negative connotations of the term "barbarian" used in previous games in the series—emerge.

In February 2023, Firaxis Games announced it was developing a sequel to Civilization VI (2016). PCGamesN reported in August 2021 that Firaxis had posted a job opening for a narrative lead for the game. Gwendoline Christie narrates the game's voiceovers.

Firaxis Games collaborated with members of the Shawnee Tribe, including Shawnee chief Benjamin Barnes, to create a historically accurate depiction of Tecumseh in the game. Tecumseh is voiced by Dean Dillon, a Shawnee voice actor. As part of the partnership between Firaxis Games and the Shawnee Tribe, Firaxis and 2K donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to programs working to revitalize the Shawnee language.

Civilization VII received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. OpenCritic determined that 77% of critics recommend the game.

The game's visuals and sounds and diplomacy system overhaul were mostly praised. However, many critics found the UI lacking, the mechanics oversimplified, and the three ages system, coupled with the ability to change civilizations, divisive. Other points of criticism included the perceived premature end of the technology tree (roughly the 1960s) and the overreliance on DLC to fix or add lacking features.