Firaxis confirms that Civ 7 ends during the Cold War with ‘our’ age being added in the future

A major expansion begins to take shape

Firaxis / 2K Games / Take-Two Interactive

Firaxis’ Ed Beach has confirmed that the Modern Age in Civilization 7 will end during the Cold War as opposed to the present, just as we’ve predicted based on an earlier unit showcase. In the studio’s latest livestream, Beach confirmed that plans to bring ‘our’ age – the digital age or whatever it might end up being called – are already set, indicating that it might be added as an Age 4 in the form of a major expansion.

Civilization 7’s Modern Age begins in the 1750s and contains special mechanics for events like industrialization and the advent of ideologies. The Modern Age’s tech tree ends with Rocketry, after which only the usual vague “Future Tech” options remain – no computers, no internet. The Science Victory still involves the space race, so we’re pretty much looking at an end date in the 1960s.

“Obviously, history has marched on since then to the present,” Ed Beach said in the livestream. “That’s not something you’re going to see in Civ 7 at launch, but we’ll be talking about our plans for how that gets into the game when it’s the right time.”

This is pretty exciting, since the present age always felt a little dull in previous Civilization titles. Getting a more bespoke experience with intricate mechanics in Civilization 7’s new style might be exactly what’s needed to spice up this period of history.

Firaxis also confirmed that Civilization 7 will have a total of 26 leaders at launch (including the personas based on the same leaders) with Harriet Tubman being revealed as the latest option. Tubman looks incredibly strong on paper with all of her units being able to ignore movement penalties from vegetation. She also comes with an interesting focus on espionage.

You can find the entire Civ 7 Modern Age livestream below, if you want to dive into the details:

Find all Civ 7 editions in the pre-order guide and check out all revealed Civ 7 leaders and civilizations.