Updated: 12.17.2024

Hey Civ fans! Sarah, your CM here with another Dev Diary. Today, we'll be diving into Leaders and Civs - two key ingredients to the Civilization franchise. And who better to detail this than Lead Franchise Producer Dennis Shirk, a Firaxis veteran of more than 19 years! Take it away, Dennis!

Hi everyone, Dennis Shirk from Firaxis here! Leaders and civs hold a dear place in my heart, and I'm excited to detail some of our thinking when it comes to Civilization VII. I'll explain the decision process behind which leaders and civs we select to put into the game, discuss why we added the new mix and match feature, outline what's new in Civilization VII, and provide a little bit of a look ahead. Let's get started!

How We Choose Leaders and Civs

The way we choose which leaders and civs to put into the game has evolved over the years, and even more so for Civilization VII. In the old days, the selection process was often pretty loose - a designer might think, "Hey, this could be fun," and that would be all it would take to get them into the game. As the franchise has grown and more players from around the world join the Civ community, we have to rightfully be more thoughtful in which leaders and civs make sense for the game. 

Typically, we think about leaders and civs along a few criteria:

• Historical prominence. If we ask players to think about history, oftentimes a few civilizations or figures from the past instantly rise to the top. Leaders and empires who left a lasting mark on the world at large are always strong candidates. 
• Player representation. Particularly in the last decade, both the community and our ability to connect to players from around the world has grown immensely. Representation is deeply important to many Civ players, especially those that may have been traditionally underrepresented. 
• Interesting Gameplay. Naturally, leaders and civs have to be fun to play. We think about people who carved particularly interesting paths through history, and civilizations who have a high potential for unique gameplay.

This selection process has changed quite a bit through some of the new features we're bringing to Civilization VII. Two things in particular change our internal calculus: Ages and the ability to mix and match leaders and civs.

As Ed previously outlined, Ages split history into distinct playable chapters, and every civ is unique to its Age. One of the direct results and benefits of this system is we can now go "deeper" with civilizations. Instead of a civ needing to meet the bar of having historical prominence across all of history, now we can apply that thinking to just one Age. Aksum or Maurya India are good examples of this; cultures that were particularly prominent during a specific slice of history. 

With the ability to mix and match leaders and civs, we've decoupled what was traditionally a package deal. This is particularly liberating because in the past, leaders essentially needed to be the most popular or well-known figure from their respective civ, which often meant focusing on a ruler, kings and queens, president, or some other political figure. Now, in Civilization VII, great figures of philosophy, human rights, science and more are now elevated to leader status, like Confucius and Benjamin Franklin.

There are, of course, Personas. Many historical leaders and civilizations had complex, multifaceted histories. We introduced Personas in Civilization VI as a way to acknowledge historical figures who have ties to different civilizations, or those who excelled in two unique and important areas of statecraft. Personas return in Civilization VII with a stronger focus on the latter, as the ability to mix and match leaders and civs inherently covers the former. Every Persona comes fully equipped with their own unique feature set as a leader - a Unique Ability and Agenda, as well as a distinct outfit and background. One example in Civilization VII is Napoleon*, who can be played as either his Emperor** or Revolutionary*** Persona - reflecting the periods of his life during the French Revolution and his subsequent reign as ruler. 

The last thing I'll note is that leaders and civs aren't selected by a single person or even department here at the studio - it's a wholly collaborative effort across the entire team. We take in considerations from the art team, historians, designers, the community - everyone plays a part in shaping the roster by bringing their unique perspectives. It truly takes a village to bring leaders and civs to life!

Why mix and match?

One of the more notable features in Civilization VII is the ability to mix and match leaders and civs. I mentioned a bit about the rationale above, but wanted to expand a bit more on our thought process. 

A major reason for adding mix and match was to support Ages. In past games, you always played as the same leader and civ combo through the entire game. With your empire being represented by multiple different civs across a full campaign in Civilization VII, we needed to make sure that players still had a strong cohesive sense of "who" they're playing as, and against. 

With Ages, we thought about several different approaches on how we could handle civs and leaders. This included the idea of switching leaders per Age, as well as designing in "stacks" where every Civ would be like what we have for India (Maurya, to Chola, to Mughal). 

Each of these options fell short in different ways. We were convinced that swapping leaders would be particularly confusing to understand who you were playing with. Players often say that they're making alliances or waging war against Cleopatra, Gandhi, or Montezuma - not Egypt, India, or the Aztecs. And if the leader changes mid-game, that narrative inside the player's head is disrupted. 

In a similar vein, only choosing civilizations that have a full "stack," as in a direct historical lineage, meant that we would have to be greatly limited in who we could consider for Civilization VII. You would only be able to pick civs whose past spans the entirety of history, which means no America.

That brings us back to "why mix and match" - and in some sense, why Ages? Through this feature, we're able to make sure you maintain a strong sense of identity for your empire, your friends, and your rivals on the world stage. Creating historical "pathways" instead of a strict empire stack provides significantly more replayability and allows us to represent a more diverse set of cultures. We're able to expand leaders into new categories, shining a spotlight on figures who contributed to humanity in ways many players may be discovering for the first time. And, of course, strategy! Every leader has a unique playstyle, and you'll be able to blend that playstyle with the unique traits of each civilization during the Age. 

What's New for Civilization VII?

Now that we've gone through the structural and categorical changes, let's go through the actual components of leaders and civs. 

As we've mentioned before, every civ is tied to a specific Age, and you get to experience that civ at the height of its power. Each civ comes equipped with a Unique Ability, Unique Infrastructure, a unique Civic Tree, an associated Wonder, Unique Units (both Civilian and Military), and typically a location Starting Bias. Combined together, these nudge the civ into a certain playstyle, categorized across Military, Diplomacy, Expansion, Science, Culture, and Economy.

For example, Han China is an Antiquity Age civilization. As you complete the Han's unique Civic Tree, you can unlock the Guanxi, Jin Qing, and/or Tianxia Traditions - each of these being available to slot into your social policies for your empire in future Ages, regardless of which civ you choose.

Han China has a Unique Infrastructure in the Great Wall - a Unique Improvement. In contrast, Rome's Unique Infrastructure comes in the form of their Unique Quarter - the Forum, which is created when combining Rome's two Unique Buildings, the Temple of Jupiter and Basilica, together in a single District. Unique Infrastructure like the Great Wall and the Roman Forum are Ageless, meaning their effects last across all Ages, and you cannot build over these structures. 

Unique Civilian Units come in different styles as well. Han China's Shì Dàfū is like a mini "Great People" system - each Shì Dàfū provides a different reward, is received only once, and increases in cost. Maya's Jaguar Slayer, on the other hand, replaces the Scout and gives the unit the power to create an invisible trap on Vegetated tiles to damage enemy units and end their movement. 

Every civ has an associated Wonder, giving them both the ability to unlock that Wonder earlier through their unique Civic Tree and a production bonus when building it. These Wonders are not unique to the civ though; wait too long to build your associated Wonder, and you may find that another player has scooped you! 

For leaders, each comes packed with a Unique Ability, Agenda, and occasional Starting Bias; again, nudging their playstyle into the above mentioned categories. In Civilization VII, the AI will always pair leaders and civs with their closest ideal choice - typically determined by historical ties or geographical ties. You'll see those options as well in the form of a small portrait icon when starting a new game, but thanks to mix and match functionality you can freely choose which leader and civs you want to pair together. If you're playing more for strategy than historical immersion, you'll typically want to match a leader's playstyle to the civ's playstyle.

Something new to Civilization VII's leaders is the Attribute system. Attributes offer a way to customize your leader further during the course of a game, split into those six categories: Cultural, Diplomatic, Economic, Expansionist, Militaristic, and Scientific. Your leaders and civs have different strengths in these categories, determining the affinity you have toward earning certain Attribute points with gameplay, and you spend these points on attribute Skill Trees that make your leader stronger. For example, Augustus has a strong focus on Culture - so you'll find yourself having more chances to earn Cultural Attribute points.

Importantly, Attributes and their bonuses persist across Ages - ensuring that while your empire grows across time, so too does your leader! Attribute points can be earned across a wide variety of gameplay actions - building certain Wonders, researching certain Civics, completing narrative events, and as rewards for finishing milestones along Victory Paths. 

A Look Ahead

Leaders and civs are a crucial element to the Civilization franchise, and I'm incredibly excited for players to experience each of them in Civilization VII. Through Ages and features like civ swapping and mix & match, we're able to go wider and deeper with civs and leaders than ever before.

For a look ahead on the next Dev Diary, we're going to be tackling a topic that core Civ fans have been dying to know more information about: empire management. We'll be detailing everything from how cities work, populations, yields, what a "warehouse" building is, overbuilding, and more. If you have any questions, please continue to share your feedback and thoughts across our social media channels. As always, thanks for being the best fans in gaming.

*Napoleon leader not included in the base game. 

**Napoleon (Emperor) is available as bonus content for players that link a 2K Account to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here.

***Napoleon (Revolutionary) is available as bonus content for players that link the same 2K Account  to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Internet connection required. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply. For more information, read here.