Firaxis Games has been gearing up for the release of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII for the better part of the last few months. The latest new piece to come down the pike  and help get players excited is a gameplay showcase and developer interview. This livestream features a playthrough of the game’s first Age, the Age of Antiquity, as Rome with Augustus as the leader. Some highlights of the stream include the change to amenities from Civ 6, the unique quarters each Civ can create, and how the change from one Age to the next works.

In Civ 7 amenities have been replaced with happiness, a yield as opposed to a separate mechanic in the game, that can be cultivated and used for new features. One such feature is a celebration. Celebrations occur when a specific threshold of happiness is reached, resulting in different buffs or bonuses for the Civ for about ten turns. Buffs received are decided by government type. One example is Classical Republic which grants Culture buffs for ten turns and Wonder Constructing buffs for ten turns. Government types being the slightest bit separated from the Civics tree might hopefully add a lot more new ways to play as different game strategies unfold.

Jumping forward in the save file for the game, the developers show off a Rome in the later stages of the Antiquity age. Rome is now a thriving capital city, with walls around a few of its urban districts, that is districts connected to the city center. These walls add defenses and have to be placed one tile at a time but make cities harder to capture. The capital also has Rome’s unique quarter the Forum, created from putting both of its unique buildings on the same tile. This quarter will have an additional effect and will not change when the Civ changes in the next Age. Some Civs have unique tile enhancements instead of unique buildings. These add onto tiles and improve yield without replacing anything, they also remain between Ages. Towns were also shown off in this section of the video. Outside the capital different towns focus on different things, and players can decide what each town focuses on when it reaches seven population. Its selected focus will be the focus of the town for the rest of the Age.

The Age change begins with marking the end of one Age, in this case the Age of Antiquity. Then players select a legacy bonus where they choose one yield they want to have buffed in their next Civ. Finally they choose a new Civ from the available options. In this case the devs choose the Normans, the Civ passively unlocked by playing Rome. Other visible Civ options were the Abbasid and Chola Civs, both of which were locked but visible. When selecting the Normans, players are given the option to play as Rome becoming the Normans, the Greeks becoming the Normans, or a hidden option which unlocks a new option in the Modern Age, so for the next Age shift. Post-shift the remnants of the players’ Roman adventures are plain to see in the new Norman civilization, but the times have updated in little ways. As much as it may seem like a new game, history is built on top of itself.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will be available on Steam, the Epic Games Store, Xbox, and PlayStation on February 11th, 2025.