Civilization VII’s rough launch sparks backlash - developers pledge improvements
The Civilization series is one of the longest-running and most successful in strategy gaming. On February 6, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII launched in Advanced Access, allowing Deluxe and Founders Edition owners to start playing early. However, the latest 4X strategy game from Firaxis Games and 2K has struggled to win over fans so far.
"Mess, chaos"
According to SteamDB, Civilization VII drew over 60,000 players on its first day. However, Steam reviews and Reddit discussions suggest that many were left disappointed. A common complaint is the user interface, which players find confusing and impractical. Poor map readability and the absence of essential features like hotkeys have also been widely criticized.
Many players also complain about missing features and incomplete content. There’s no option to rename cities or units, map variety is limited and the audio quality is underwhelming. Multiplayer issues add to the frustration, with lag, disconnections and the absence of key features like hotseat mode affecting the experience. For many, Civilization VII feels rushed and unfinished.
On Reddit, Civilization VII is already being called an "unfinished mess," with many advising against buying it. Steam reviews paint a similar picture – of nearly 8,000 reviews at the time of research, only 50% were positive. Critics, however, have been more forgiving. On Metacritic, the game holds a solid 81 Metascore. The user score, which better reflects player sentiment, is still missing.
Firaxis announces planned improvements
Firaxis appears to be taking the criticism seriously and has announced a series of updates to improve the game. The user interface will be redesigned to enhance map readability, streamline interactions and refine visuals for a more user-friendly experience. Additionally, free updates based on community feedback are planned.
The first major patch, 1.1.0, is set for March and will overhaul diplomacy and AI mechanics, improve performance and fix various bugs. To make future development more transparent, Firaxis also announced an update roadmap. Whether these efforts will be enough to win over fans ahead of Civ 7’s full release on February 11 remains to be seen.
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