Civilization celebrates its 35th anniversary with the first paid expansion for its seventh installment

Firaxis Games is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Sid Meier’s Civilization. An important date for a franchise that has defined 4X strategy by shaping it while remaining the saga that, even today, is still the most important and beloved in its genre. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise us that they’ve decided to start the celebrations by pampering their latest title, the seventh, with new paid content. Its first major expansion.

An update worthy of the stars

Called Earthrise, it will be released in 2027 and will focus on the space race. To do this we’ll have to go from exploring the night sky and learning about the space around us to launching the first orbital missions, to exploring the depths of space and discovering ways to address some of the major problems of our time, such as climate change or increasingly frequent natural disasters. Something essential if we want to settle on other planets, given the hostile environment they present.

Before this new expansion, there will be two free updates that will serve as a preview of what’s to come. At the end of September, update 1.5.0 will arrive, which will introduce the True Start Location map, Earth, in addition to various updates that will polish some aspects of the game. Then, in 2027, Arc of Tomorrow will launch, a major update that will introduce a new age: the Atomic Age, which will span from 1950 to the near future. It will include new technology trees, the return of Gandhi as a leader, as well as new empire management tools.

With that, Civilization VII is shaping up as a very well-defined entry in the series after a fairly rough start. But to see how it all fits together we’ll still have to wait until 2027. And see what else the 35th-anniversary celebrations have in store for us.