If you're running an older machine, system requirements can be a cause of dread. Will you finally have to update that ageing GPU? Is that several-generations-behind CPU finally past its sell-by-date? Well, if you're planning on picking up Civilization 7 when it releases next February 11, you probably don't have to worry—it looks about as easygoing as modern major releases come.
For a start, the minimum requirements list an Intel Core i3 10100 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 for 1080p Low, alongside a GTX 1050, RX 460, or Intel Arc A380 and 8 GB of RAM. That'll only get you 30 fps, mind, but in a game like Civ 7, I'd argue that's all you really need for a decent experience.
It's not a fast-paced shooter after all, and you'll be spending most of your time pondering menus and working out optimal tile placement anyways.
For 1080p medium settings at 60 fps, you'll be looking at a Core i5 10400 or Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB of RAM, and an RTX 2060, RX 6600, or Arc A750. Bearing in mind that traditionally Civilization has been more of a CPU-heavy series, the fact the devs are recommending four year old processors is a pleasant sight to see.
But what about the big 4K? Well, I can't remember the last time I saw system specs that put the modest (but still plenty powerful) RTX 4070 down as the 60 fps 4K High option, but here we are. Or the RX 7800XT, a card I personally use on the daily, even if it seems like no-one else does. Still, very reasonable graphical hardware for these sorts of settings, for sure.
The CPU requirements make a massive jump at 4K, however, leaping up to the Core i7 14700F and the Ryzen 9 5950X. Those are some genuinely powerful CPUs, although if I was a betting man I'd say that, looking at the rest of the specs, I reckon anything decent from the past couple of CPU generations should do you just fine. It could simply be for turn-time optimisation, as the processor needs to beaver away in a Civ game working out the AI turns.
The other headline news is the storage requirement, which is a mercifully low 20 GB. I've got low-graphics indie games on my machine taking up more storage space than that, so well done to the devs for keeping things on the lean and mean side.
It's actually 3 GB lower than the normal version of Civilisation 6, although as some of my more cynical colleagues have pointed out, that could be because a lot of content is being kept back as DLC. Me, I'd never suggest such a thing. Never.
Overall then, it looks like Civilization 7 is aiming to run well on as many machines as possible come release—which means many of us should be free to start up our new late-night obsession without a care in our minds come February. Civ 5 and 6 did a magnificent job of swallowing my life upon their respective releases, and by the looks of what our Tyler has seen so far in his hands-on preview, it seems more of the same might be coming my way.
