Hey Civ fans,

It’s been a while since our last update check-in, so we wanted to touch base with you and talk about what’s on the horizon for Civilization VII. 

Since launch, we've been working hard to bring you post-launch updates at a faster pace than ever before for a Civ game, keeping your feedback in mind the entire way.  Back in June, we highlighted three big themes that arose from that feedback: Age transitions; replayability; and civ identity through the Ages.

We’ve spent a lot of time on these themes over the past few months, in design meetings, creative brainstorms, and many “what if” whiteboard sessions. Some of that work, like Continuity Mode and Age countdowns, has already made it into the game. But we know you’re eager for the bigger picture.  We’ll start by digging into more of those long-term plans, and then we’ll talk about what’s coming in our next update, 1.3.0.

Oh, and one last thing: please imagine a big "subject to change" stamp on everything here. With that, let’s dive in!

A Message from Ed on What’s Next for Civ VII:

Hello Civ fans,

Many of you have asked for a roadmap detailing our future update plans. This is a very fair ask, but we've held off on providing too much detail until we knew that the significant updates we wanted to make had a clear path forward and were sufficiently fleshed out. We’ve made some good strides here, so I can now share an update on two of the biggest things in motion. 

First, we're testing some dramatic changes to the Legacy Paths and Victories in Civ VII. We want to open up the game and provide many new paths your empire can follow while achieving greatness and competing for victory.

Second - and this one’s been one of the most requested features from players - we're internally playtesting ways to play as one civ continuously through the ages, allowing you to choose a civilization from any Age and guide them throughout your journey through history.

Sound exciting? Well, this is where we're inviting you to help us shape what these mechanics ultimately look like for Civ VII. Over the next few months, we’re kicking off a new initiative: the Firaxis Feature Workshop. This is our way of opening the door earlier, inviting a small number of community members to go hands-on with features still in development and tell us what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing so that we can deliver the best possible Civ VII experience. We’ll be coordinating this through our Discord, and we’ll share more details on how to apply soon, alongside the next update.

I also want to share that as we head into the holidays, you’ll notice smaller, less frequent updates while the team shifts into testing and iteration on these larger changes, and preparing for the Workshop. We won’t be radio silent, but we do want to make sure we’re taking the time to get things right. 

If you haven't joined our Discord server yet, now’s a great time. We’ll be continuing to listen from all sources, not just the Workshop, so please keep sharing your feedback with us. Thanks for your continued support while we work on the next big step for Civ VII, and you’ll hear from us again later this year. 

- Ed

New Content Collection: Tides of Power

With 1.3.0, we're introducing a new sea-themed Content Collection called Tides of Power.

As a special thanks to all our players who've been with us playing the game, providing feedback, creating content, and more, this collection will be free for Civilization VII players to claim from the time it goes live on November 4 until January 5, 2026 across all platforms*. More details will come November 4 on how to claim this collection for free.

The first part of Tides of Power is dropping with the update on November 4, bringing a brand new leader, Edward Teach, and two fresh civilizations: Tonga and the Republic of Pirates. The second part, coming in December, will introduce the formidable leader Sayyida al Hurra, along with the Ottomans and Iceland.

We look forward to seeing how you expand your empire with these new naval additions! For more details on this content collection, please visit the Collection Hub on our website. From the entire team at Firaxis, thank you for being a part of the Civilization community!

The Naval Update Sails In the Week of November 3rd

Ocean-lovers rejoice! 1.3.0 is packed with a ton of naval-themed updates, including a new Unit, Building, combat updates, Ocean Resources, and more. We’re also continuing our strategic balance efforts (shaking up the meta yet again), this time focusing specifically on sweeping changes to individual civs. Here are the highlights: 

New Building and Unit: Harbor & Privateer

To support your growing navy, we’re introducing a new Warehouse Building available to all civs: the Harbor, a new water-based Warehouse Building available to all civs. The Harbor has a base Production Yield and gives additional Production on Fishing Boats. Crucially, the Harbor now acts as the new spawn point for all Naval Units, much like how the Barracks is used for Land Units (which means no more wondering where your Cog will end up once it leaves the production line). 

We also recognize a naval update is nothing without a new ship to explore the seas with, so we’re also bringing you the Privateer. This is a new Light Naval Unit that unlocks in the Exploration Age on the Heraldry Civic.

In terms of strength, it sits neatly between the Cog and the Carrack, but its real power comes from its utility and higher speed. The Privateer is the ultimate naval raider with its ability to cross the borders of other civs freely, pillage trade routes for quick cash, and even attack the Military Units of any non-allied civilization, regardless of your war status! And yes, they get Gold for defeating a Unit! It's the perfect tool for sneaky economic warfare and general maritime mischief.

New Resources and Terrain Types

Not only do you have new tools to explore the Ocean, but the Ocean has become more interesting to explore, too…

To start, we’ve added three new water Resources, Crabs, Turtles, and Cowrie, and Pitch, a new land-based Resource. We've also updated our Resource spawning rules to be more reliable, guaranteeing a minimum number of Coastal Resources.

For terrain, Atolls will appear in the Deep Ocean, acting as movement-stopping terrain to create strategic choke points. The new Lotus terrain will spawn in Lakes, and provide bonuses to Food and Gold.  And finally, we buffed the existing Reefs features so they can stay competitive with Atolls and Lotus.

Speaking of the Ocean, we’ve made base Ocean Tiles workable in the Modern Age. Hawaii can now work Ocean tiles in the Exploration Age, making their coastal starts feel powerful even earlier. 

Naval Combat Updates

The final piece is a fresh update to naval combat. We've done a significant pass to make naval warfare feel more impactful, and to clearly define the strengths of your seafaring units.

Prior to this update, all naval combat was melee combat, but now we added Ranged Units to the mix as well. We've broken Naval Units up into two types: Light and Heavy:

• Light Units are Melee Units and have increased movement, vision, and the ability to set up flanking attacks.
• Heavy Units are the new Ranged Units. These are slower than Light Units and don't have as much vision. However, Heavy Units make up for their lack of vision with their strong ranged attacks.

Overall, these changes should make conquering the seas a much more strategic and deliberate endeavor.

And plenty more, coming with the update notes!

As always, we’ve just covered the highlights here, so keep an eye out for the full update notes including more UI and quality-of-life improvements, and a host of other updates across all platforms. If a feature you’ve been giving feedback on isn’t in 1.3.0, please know we’re still listening, taking it all in, and planning items for future patches.

Where Can I Share Feedback?

If you're looking to share feedback on Civilization VII, want to stay up-to-date, or are just looking for a place to talk with other Civ players, check out the Steam Discussion forums and our official Discord channel! For any issues, you can check if it's an issue already on our radar or submit a ticket through our support portal (select Civ VII in dropdown). 

From the entire team at Firaxis, thanks for being the best fans in gaming!

*Offer available for owners of Civilization VII. Offer ends January 5, 2026  at 6:59am PT. Owners must claim offer between November 4, 2025 and January 5, 2025 at 6:59am PT. Details on how to claim the offer and terms will be shared November 4.