Civilization 7 Receives Major Update with Expansive Maps, New Town Specializations, and Community-Driven Features
Major Update Brings Exciting New Features to Civilization 7
Firaxis Games and 2K continue their efforts to revive and enhance Civilization 7 with a substantial new update, heavily influenced by player feedback. The latest patch, Update 1.2.2, introduces a host of eagerly anticipated features designed to expand gameplay possibilities and improve overall user experience.
Expanded Map Sizes and Enhanced Multiplayer Options
One of the most noticeable additions is the inclusion of Large and Huge map sizes. These larger worlds, which are not available on the Nintendo Switch platform, default to 10 players, including AI allies and opponents. Multiplayer campaigns are capped at eight players currently, with plans to increase this to 12 in future updates, ensuring smoother performance and stability. To compensate for the increased size, maps now feature additional Pantheons, Religious Beliefs, Discoveries, and City-State bonuses, offering more content and strategic depth for all players.
New Town Specializations and City Enhancements
The update also revamps urban development with new Town Focuses like the Resort Town, which provides extra Gold and Happiness on rural tiles and natural wonders, making towns more impactful. Urban Centers now have access to many buildings previously exclusive to larger cities, such as Libraries and Monuments, especially in Antiquity. Fort Towns can now purchase multiple walls to better defend strategic chokepoints, adding more tactical options.
Additionally, some Towns received a slight nerf—massive Hub Towns now provide +1 Influence per connected settlement instead of +2, balancing their dominance and encouraging diverse strategies.
Deeper Customization and Game Setup Options
The update introduces new advanced game setup controls, giving players the ability to customize their experience. You can now toggle Legacy Paths per page, disable specific Crises, or turn off Score Victory. AI difficulty settings are more flexible, and players can bypass Civilizations’ unlocks during Age transitions. These options allow for a highly personalized and sandbox-style gameplay experience, whether you prefer peaceful city-building or aggressive conquest.
- Turn off Legacy Paths for Antiquity and Exploration for a more relaxed game.
- Disable Score Victory for a pure sandbox simulation.
- Adjust AI difficulty to match your preferred challenge level.
Religion Overhaul and Town Bonuses
Player feedback regarding religion has led to significant updates, including new Beliefs and modifications to existing ones. These changes incentivize converting your own settlements and diversify religious strategies. Bigger plans for religious mechanics are on the horizon.
Town bonuses have been refined to make urban centers more impactful. Urban Centers now access more buildings, and Fort Towns can build multiple walls for better defense. The new Resort Town specialization adds a layer of strategic planning, offering economic and happiness benefits on natural scenic tiles.
Community Features and Visual Enhancements
Mod support is now integrated into Civilization 7, allowing players to easily find and install modifications from Steam Workshop. Additionally, the update features a new loading screen narrated by actress Gwendoline Christie, adding a fresh visual and auditory experience.
Performance, Fixes, and Player Feedback
Despite the array of new features, the update also includes numerous tweaks and bug fixes to improve stability and gameplay smoothness. However, the game still faces challenges with player retention on Steam, where it currently trails behind older titles like Civilization 6 and Civilization 5. Firaxis recommends starting a new game or progressing into the next Age to experience the full benefits of the update, especially for those with existing saves.
While the game has received mixed reviews, many appreciate the improvements to warfare and narrative elements, though some feel the interface could still be simplified. The developers continue to work on balancing and refining the experience.
Alex "Pixel" Petrov
Gaming journalist & industry insider. Covers the latest game releases, updates, and behind-the-scenes dev stories. Knows every Easter egg, patch note, and upcoming title worth hyping. Always gaming, always analyzing.