This Month in Civ: May Update, News Recap, and More

Hey, Civ fans, welcome back to This Month in Civ (and boy, what a month it’s been)! May has been huge for Civilization VII, as well as for our team at Firaxis. We celebrated the studio’s 30th anniversary, launched our long-awaited Test of Time update (the biggest update to Civ VII since launch), released a free new leader*, and much more.

Heading into the summer, we’ve got a whole lot of exciting stuff coming up. But before that, we have lots to recap, so let’s dive in!

Earlier this May, Firaxis celebrated our 30th anniversary! As part of the festivities, we refreshed our brand identity, launched a selection of legacy titles on GeForce Now, hosted a sale and giveaway, and more. To read more about this milestone, check out our anniversary blog.

The passionate feedback, the "one more turn" stories, and the unwavering support from our global community are the reasons we get to keep doing what we love. Our players are at the heart of every hexagonal tile we place and civilization we bring to life. So, before anything else, THANK YOU!

We’re especially glad that we were able to ring in this occasion in a particularly triumphant way….

Test of Time finally arrived on May 19, bringing in a flurry of changes that completely transform the Civ VII experience. This is the biggest update CIv VII has ever seen—it’s of similar scope and size to an entire Civ expansion!

Highlights from Test of Time include:

You can now start and stay as any civ, in any Age! Whether you’re playing as Rome in the Exploration Age or America in the Antiquity Age, this update is all about bringing more freedom to our players, powered by new systems like Syncretism & Affirmation.

In this Dev Diary, Design Lead Matt Owens breaks down everything you should know about Time-Tested Civs and the new mechanics that allow you to start and stay as any Civilization from any Age, throughout as many Ages as you like.

If you dive into a new game of Civilization VII, you’ll find the old Legacy Paths are gone in favor of a totally new system: Triumphs. Triumphs are new challenges that incentivize more sandbox-style gameplay, offering a wide range of goals and rewards tailored to your unique playstyle. 

In this Dev Diary, Content Designer Kiera Boyle dives into the brand-new Triumphs system, exploring how it introduces new optional and Age-based goals, and creates more ways to shape your story across every game.

Victories are more dynamic and flexible across every Age. Instead of locking into one path late in the game, you’ll now build toward more varied Military, Cultural, Economic, and Science Victories throughout campaigns, giving you more freedom to adapt your strategy over time. 

In this Dev Diary, Game Designer Bill Anderson walks through the completely overhauled Victories system, featuring an entirely new way to win based on our Dominance model.

To properly accompany an update of this scale, we also added tons of new and updated artwork and music across all areas of the game.

In this Dev Diary, Associate Audio Director Kadet Kuhne explores how the team made Civ VII sound authentic, lively, and responsive to your choices, and details the cool new SFX and VFX that arrived with the Test of Time update.

There’s a LOT more to discover than could fit in a single article. The best way to experience everything new in Test of Time is to boot up a new game; the second best way is to read our latest Patch Notes and check out our Developer Update video. Craving some longer lunchtime viewing? You can also watch the VOD of our Test of Time Gameplay Stream, where our devs hop into a Test of Time multiplayer game with creators VanBradley and UrsaRyan.

Last but not least, Test of Time was made possible in large part by our amazing community. Many of the new features and changes that arrived in this update were shaped and refined through the feedback from our Firaxis Feature Workshop participants. Thanks for being in the design room with us, and for shaping the future of Civilization VII. 

As we enter a new era of Civ VII, we want to continue hearing from you! We invite you all to fill out this Community Survey, which went live on May 27 and closes on June 2. Your feedback is more important than ever!

Alongside the Test of Time launch, we also added Alexander the Great as a FREE new leader*! Alexander is a Militaristic/Cultural leader whose Unique Ability, King of the World, grants increased Production and Culture to your non-Capital Cities that contain a Wonder (doubled if that City is on another continent), and boosts the Combat Strength of your Land Military Units.

To read more about Alexander, great in both name and deed, check out the Alexander the Great Game Guide.

u/wLiam17 from the r/civ Official Reddit recently won a game on Deity difficulty with just one Settlement throughout their entire campaign, without Continuity nor Mementos!

Now that the Test of Time update is finally in your hands, we can’t wait to see how you shape your empire. This update is a huge milestone for Civ VII, but there’s still plenty more to come. Throughout the next few months, we’ll have even more exciting news to share about where Civilization VII is headed next. 

To stay connected, join us in our Official Discord, where you can keep up with the community and discuss every new update, new and forthcoming content, and all your other Civ favorites! For more info about guides, feature requests, mods, and more, check out our Steam discussions. And to stay up-to-date on all things Civ, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

See you here next month, Civ fans!

*Base game required. This content is free for all owners of Civilization VII and will be delivered automatically in-game on release. Terms apply.