Over the past day or so, a livestream aired on the Civilization YouTube channel. The livestream concluded with a countdown clock and an announcement from Sid Meier himself to announce the second expansion pack for Civilization VI. Titled Gathering Storm, the new expansion focuses on ‘Man vs. Nature’ as environmental disasters and global warming bring about new challenges for civilizations.
One of the biggest changes in Gathering Storm will be the addition of climate change. As games move into the Industrial Era and factories start popping up, carbon emissions can cause the ice caps to melt, raising sea levels. This can cause flooded coastal tiles, which damages constructions and prevents building, or even completely submerge tiles which can destroy city districts other than city centers. Fortunately, there are ways to combat climate change. Sea walls can be built to protect tiles from flooding and late game technologies can help stop or even reverse the effects of climate change.
Even before you start plopping down factories, nature can still show its fury with new natural disasters which offer risks and rewards. Rivers can now flood, for example, which damages constructions on the banks but leaves behind fertile soil. New and existing civilizations will be getting reworked to take advantage of the new mechanics. For example, Egypt gets more out of river flooding and Russian territory causes extra attrition to enemy forces.
There’s a lot more that’ll be added to the game. The World Congress, which lets civilizations pass edicts and influence the world, will be making a return, along with the ability to win a Diplomatic Victory by getting a specific number of Diplomatic Victory Points. New technologies focused on the 21st century and the near future are in the works, and the order you unlock these futuristic technologies is randomized in each playthrough. We’re also getting nine new leaders from eight different civilizations in the new expansion.
Face the fury of nature when Civilization VI: Gathering Storm releases for PC on February 14, 2019. Civilization VI got port on the Nintendo Switch also recently .