Civ 7's 1.1.1 Update Aims to Boost Competitiveness Against Civ 6 and Civ 5 on Steam

Firaxis, the developer behind Civilization 7, has released details on the game's significant update 1.1.1, coming at a time when the newly launched strategy title is seeing lower player counts on Steam compared to its predecessors, Civilization 6 and even the 15-year-old Civilization 5.

On Steam, Civilization 7's 24-hour peak concurrent player count stands at 16,921, falling short of making it into the platform's top 100 most-played games. In contrast, Civilization 5, released in 2010, achieved a peak of 17,423 players within the same timeframe. Meanwhile, Civilization 6, launched in 2016, boasts a significantly higher peak of 40,676 players, indicating that a majority of the series' fans are still loyal to the earlier installment.

Firaxis shared a post on Steam detailing the "additions and refinements" that will be introduced with Update 1.1.1. These include:

• Quick Move Functionality
• New Natural Wonder Mount Everest
• Additional UI Updates & Polish
• Settlement & Commander Renaming
• And more!

In a detailed video, lead designer Ed Beach walked through these changes and mentioned that the full patch notes would be released soon.

Civilization 7 Update 1.1.1 Patch Notes

The Quick Move feature is now an optional setting that players can toggle on in the game's menu. This allows units to move to their destination instantly, speeding up gameplay.

A new start position option related to map generation has been added. The default setting for single-player games is now 'Standard,' which offers varied and less predictable continents, similar to Civilization 6. For multiplayer games, the 'Balanced' setting remains to ensure a level playing field with more consistent maps.

Players can now rename settlements and commanders, prioritizing personalization over historical accuracy. Additionally, a new restart feature allows players to generate a new map with different seeds while keeping their chosen leader and civilization.

UI improvements include the city and town panel staying open during purchases, new notifications for cities under attack, indicators for crises, and enhanced resource tooltips. Significant pacing changes have also been implemented.

Alongside these updates, a new civilization, Bulgaria, joins Nepal and the new leader Simón Bolívar in the paid Crossroads of the World Collection, available from March 25.

Rank Every Civilization Game

Civilization 7 has sparked controversy among series veterans due to its new mechanics and has struggled to gain traction on Steam, unlike on consoles where player numbers are not disclosed. The game currently holds a 'mixed' user review rating on Valve's platform and received a 7/10 from IGN's review.

In an interview with IGN, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged the negative feedback from both the press and players but expressed optimism that the "legacy Civ audience" would eventually embrace the game, describing its early performance as "very encouraging." He also hinted at potential future developments, including the return of fan-favorite character Gandhi.

For those looking to master Civilization 7, our comprehensive guides cover everything from achieving every type of victory to understanding the significant changes from Civilization 6, avoiding crucial mistakes, and exploring the various map types and difficulty settings.