You do, in fact, gotta hand it to Firaxis. Though its last game – 2022's super card-based strategy Marvel's Midnight Suns – didn't sell as well as expected, the studio hasn't stopped taking big swings. Civilization 7 is set to launch this February, but don't let that fancy big number deceive you: from what we've seen so far, a series of sweeping changes will make this entry unlike anything we've seen before in the strategy genre's darling series.
Now I'll admit, some of Civilization 7's proposed shake-ups scare me. The new Ages system – which will essentially break campaigns into three stages rather than the series' traditionally less-impactful historical eras – could make the empire-building experience feel more fragmented, and I don't know whether the mix-and-match approach to leaders and factions will add unimaginable customization or dull the personality we've had from Civilization 5 and 6's civs.
