Okay so hear me out- had anyone else actually ever seen the name behind modern day 4X and tactical gaming until literally the recent announcement of Civilisation 7? Personally I had seen his XCom easter egg character and assumed it was a send up to a father of the genre who had, sorry to say this out-loud, unfortunately passed away at some point. Yeah, I thought the guy was dead! Imagine my surprise when he pops up out of the oblivion to remind me that Civilisation 6 came out 8 years ago and actually it isn't ridiculous that the next game is being announced 'already'. I'm still struggling to process that information for the pretty embarrassing fact that I've... well... I've never actually played Civilisation 6- turns out when you keep putting something off eventually you just miss it.
I actually do own the game, silly though that is. Civilisation is just one of thus crux games you feel like you have to own or play through at somepoint in your life in order to experience the lap of loyalty once or twice before you die. Civilisation is just an incomparable experience, no one else quiet nails the scope of following human history from the cradle to the cold reaches of eternity- and though I wish that modern Civ would try to get a bit more experimental with the way they portray that journey- is there any more grand a tale to tell? And whilst we're in the midst of pondering that, mayhaps we can ask ourselves if Civilisation has ever thought they need to do something about the insane length of even their most average matches- but then I guess that's just inherent to this genre type, ain't it?
Though little has been said about the game yet, what it intends to do differently or similarly to efforts of the past, one of the most curious aspects about the game is what Sid announced to the bewilderment of myself and I'm sure many others who actually engage with these games themselves- the simultaneous release of PC and console. Now that is nothing to really write home about in the modern age it terms of 'great achievements'. If anything it's a point against the competency of your agency if you somehow fail to release on all the major platforms simultaneously, which is probably why Sony have turned it into an actual business strategy which they've gone on record to brag about like the actual ghouls that they are! But with Civilisation specifically- this has never been done before.
As a tactical game of civilisation building that can stretch on upwards to 10 hours for an average sized match, to multiple days for a major match- Civ really is built for a certain type of audience to engage with. And that audience is PC gamers. Those that are used to dedicating themselves to one game for hours at a time without getting bored and switching off- that's why slower and more text-heavy RPGs tend to do well here, rather than on console. And that's probably why Civ has never really taken consoles seriously. The only time they tried to go to the console market, Sid's team correctly identified that a direct port wouldn't cut it and instead worked on an entirely streamlined, and cartoon-styled, version of the Civ 5 base game called 'Civilisation Revolution'. (I also suspect that the processing deficits of that Console Generation might have had something to do with that- but that's just speculation for the moment.)
Now I bring up Civilisation Revolution for one key reason- that was the first Civilisation game I played. And I loved it. Simplifying the Civilisation building process to only the key-most bullet points allowed for focus to be drawn away from the minute of individual city management (which tended to default to easily toggled archetypes) and more on the cool stuff, like expanding new settlements, taking out camps of bandits, rising small strike forces in local skirmishes, and researching giant Metal Gears which you deploy abroad. (Where the Metal Gears in Civ Rev? I think they were.) It understood how to sell the formula to console players- and that the difference in player bases mattered was a testament to the thought that goes into games like these.
Which is why I am so sceptical about the idea to blanket release this game at the same time everywhere- has the market shifted so drastically as to create a user base on the console side of things? I can't see how. Sure, we now get CRPGs released to their full glory on consoles- which is fantastic- but I haven't seen many of the other big tactical companies dedicate themselves that direction. Homeworld 3 never made it to consoles. Bannerlord may be on the consoles but they aren't given the same support as the PC version and suffer bugs unique to their platform. Rimworld was never officially ported to the current generation. Stellaris is, surprisingly, on consoles- and I would love to see those player numbers because I can't imagine who engages with the game like that... Civ is stepping outside of it's comfort zone, is what I'm saying.
But then I only a view of this style of game as the outsider who isn't really a diehard strategy game head, nor a developer in this world. And for someone like Sid Meier, who is still involved with this world at the age of 70, to be told what's what by the likes of me is absolutely laughable. Just like Tom Clancy before him- Sid is such a staple of this franchise that most consider his tag a printed brand intrinsic to the series. And just like Tom Clancy- I couldn't have told you the man was real until I saw him with my own eyes. It is somewhat heartening to know that some of the spirit of the start of gaming is being kept alive not just by the name of the franchise alone, the the legendary names who pioneered it. What a heart warming thought.
Apart from the nitty-gritty of schedules, I will have to say it's special to see another from the legendary reveals of this franchise- even if I spent the entirety of the trailer trying to assert it was another trailer for that 'Humankind' game which I'm not even sure ever came out... (4 years ago? Damn!) Which probably speaks to my general stupidity- but I can't help but shake the feeling this reveal lacked some of the grandiose pomp of Civ games from the past. I miss the storied and unmistakable thespian iconics navel-gazing unfocused drivel about the nature of mankind like they're posturing on the very nature of the universe. But I guess we live in a world were the biggest tactical franchise is moving to consoles day in- so these are unprecedented times all round.
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