The next game in the Civilization franchise, Civilization 7, comes out in February next year, and its developers at Firaxis recently released some information on how it will differ from previous entries. The last game in the series, Civ 6, came out back in 2016, and games have advanced in great strides in the years since. Players are excited to see what changes the classic strategy game will introduce as developers strive to balance integrating new mechanics with existing parts of the series that fans love.

Much has been done, both aesthetically and mechanically, to improve the game for its player base. While some changes are small and aimed at ease of use, others make huge differences in the flow of the game and its objectives. These differences between the latest two titles in the Civ franchise are some of the largest changes made to Civ 7 from other games in the franchise.

12 Unique Units Remain With Players For The Entire Age

More Immersive Playthroughs Through Continuity

Part of the goal for Civ 7 was to create an immersive experience of an age that really feels like you're progressing through history. Several new units were added to the game as part of this push, including new army commanders meant to streamline the game. To make these units more significant to players, the developers wanted to make sure that the units played a more significant and lasting role in the game. New to Civilization 7, once a unit is unlocked, it will remain with the player for the duration of the age they're progressing through.

The culture you choose to play as through a particular age will directly affect the visuals. Units, architecture, uniforms, and other artistic elements will feature different designs depending on who your cultural focus is.

This is a huge difference from Civilization 6, where units only lasted as long as the battle they were engaged in at the time. Thanks to the new army commanders of Civ 7, though, players can relocate unlocked units to new battlefields. This makes the game more immersive and allows for continuity, as opposed to unlocking and discarding valuable units in the previous title.

11 Legacy Paths Let You Carry Over Bonuses To Following Playthroughs

No More Aimless Playing

Civilization 7 borrows an idea from the roguelite genre with the new Legacy Paths feature. This feature allows players to carry forth various bonuses and perks from one Age to another, giving themselves a leg up in future campaigns. Legacies work as milestones, giving players something to build from when they embark on future conquests through history. This feature is entirely new to Civilization 7, and is meant to help fans be more strategic in the way they play the game.

According to the first Dev Diary from 2K, Legacy Paths are sets of secondary goals within Science, Military, Culture, and Economy that work as goalposts for players. As these Age-specific objectives are completed, they become available for use in later playthroughs. Only one or two bonuses can be carried over into the next Age, but the more perks you unlock, the more you'll have to choose from when the time comes to tackle another era in history. This system wasn't present in Civ 6, and adds another layer of complexity to Civilization 7.

10 Altered Map Terrain Provides New Travel Opportunities And Obstacles

Navigable Rivers And Elevated Terrains

Civ 7's maps will be more dynamic in how their terrain and environments are shaped, as well as how they can be navigated. Rivers will now be navigable for player units and serve more of a purpose than just a source of fresh water. Mountains and cliffs can now cause larger changes in elevation, meaning maps won't feel as flat as they once did.

Players could arrange faster trading routes along riverside cities, or use elevated terrain as a strategic advantage during warfare.

Changes like this are partly aesthetic, making the game's maps look more detailed and the worlds that players build on more varied. But they also create new opportunities for player strategy as placement could be more important when picking the starting point than in Civ 6. Players could arrange faster trading routes along riverside cities, or use elevated terrain as a strategic advantage during warfare.

9 Tech & Culture Trees Have Been Streamlined

A Simplification To Make Progression Easier And Faster

This change might be more controversial, as it could be seen as oversimplifying elements of the game. However, the goal of this change is to make each choice within the tech and culture trees more important, requiring more time and focus dedicated to each achievement. It also makes the progression of a civilization's technology feel less stilted and chaotic.

This change goes along with several choices the developers made to streamline the process of advancing in the game since many players of Civ 6 never reached the later ages, instead starting new games around the midway point. With a less complicated ladder of upgrades required to "finish" a game of Civ 7, more players should actually see the full extent of the game.

8 A Return To Form In The Game's Art Style

Updated Graphics For Bringing Back Realism

Many players were dissatisfied with Civ 6's art style, since it differed from previous entries in looking more cartoonish and less detailed. Firaxis has heard those complaints and has shifted the style for this new entry, once again going for a look closer to realism. Of course, with updated graphics and higher performance, Civ 7 will be able to pull off a more polished look than any of the previous games in the franchise.

With updated graphics and higher performance, Civ 7 will be able to pull off a more polished look than any of the previous games in the franchise.

The maps of the game are beautiful, with colorful and defined environments and busy, detailed cities that feel alive. The art for units and leaders has likewise been improved upon, and their animations have been given more detail. The new game's appearance is not just a return to form but a great step forward for the series.

7 Inclusion Of Features Previously Only Available In Add-Ons

Natural Disasters & More In The Base Game

Civ 6 turned several mechanics and facets of other titles in the franchise into DLC or add-on content, but from the look of things with this new title, many of those features will be included in the base game. Included in those returned features are natural disasters. These events can provide great challenges for players and their civilizations, and even call for international cooperation.

Events that impact larger portions of the game's world have been amped up for this new title, as the developer's goal is to increase interaction between different players. Much like many players never saw later ages within Civ 6, many also tended to stay more isolationist. Civ 7 should provide more opportunities and necessities for cooperative gameplay.

6 Crisis Events Are A New Mechanic To Define Age Advancements

Preceding Age And Crisis Management Will Affect Your Advance

One new category of events Civ 7 will feature are "crises," turning points that occur whenever a civilization advances to the next age. These events are based on the state of the world and one's current civilization stats and are meant to define the course of that civ's next age, for better or worse. Generally, these events involve something that requires direct intervention from the civilization leader and will have some sort of downside.

If one's ally is going through a crisis they are having a hard time managing, one could lend a hand, or take advantage of that weakness and get ahead.

Crises can make or break one's civ, depending on how well players do in the preceding age and how it pertains to the objectives they are going for. These crises also create another avenue for player-to-player interaction. If one's ally is going through a crisis they are having a hard time managing, one could lend a hand, or take advantage of that weakness and get ahead.

5 Civ 7 Will Only Have Three Ages

Antiquity, Discovery & Modern Age

This change is the most likely to receive backlash, and is also integral to several of the other changes made to Civ 7. Firaxis has shared that, unlike previous entries in the series, Civ 7 will only have 3 ages for players to progress through: the age of antiquity, the age of discovery, and the modern age. These more broad categories do away with divisions like those that existed in Civ 6 between the ancient and classical eras.

The idea here is that each age will be more distinct and game-changing upon a transition, and that the game will be easier to play from start to finish. Some players may be upset about this simplification. But paired with the streamlined tech and culture trees and other changes made with this new entry, this system might feel better to play, as it would be less like a grind or slog.

Plus, there's another change that comes with these transitions: the "changing" of civilizations based on era progression. A player might start out playing as a version of ancient Rome but change to , , or something else upon leaving the first age based on their civilization's focus and goals. It is unclear so far how exactly this transition will occur, but the idea of a civilization warping into a new one over time does sound exciting.

4 Major Changes In How To Build Up Your Civilization

Choose When and Where To Expand & Improvements Will Follow

Gone is the era of creating builder units that make improvements and fortifications on the land within a player's city. Now, the focus is less on building those improvements and more on how to shape one's civilization in the first place. Players now choose when and where their cities expand to take up more ground, and improvements are built automatically upon doing so.

This change is more of a quality-of-life one, aimed at cutting down on the time and resources players have to spend doing things just to get the resources they already possess into a workable state. Civ 7 aims to focus less on that kind of slow amassing of resources through tedious construction and more on including choices that players must make to shape the direction of their civilization. For players who still wish to have a hand in building smaller parts of their cities, specific buildings and upgrades to them remain to be managed.

3 Commander Units Redefine The Game's Combat

Less Focus On Small Individual Troops

Going to war and fighting against hostile forces in Civ 7 will revolve more around "commander" units, troops with specific names, roles, and buffs that they provide to surrounding forces. The kind of fight players can bring to the table varies wildly depending on what commander they have leading the charge, as each offers different strategic advantages. Commanders have their own upgrade trees and become very valuable assets to each civ in the game.

This does mean less focus is placed on small, individual units. Those small forces no longer gain experience or promotions and are more disposable in a war scenario. This is a big change from Civ 6, and while player opinions on how it works will differ, it will certainly offer a new kind of strategic process to the game's combat system.