Civilization 7: Earthrise – Major sci-fi update coming in 2027
Firaxis Games and 2K announced the first expansion for Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 during a panel at PAX West. Titled Earthrise, the expansion focuses on the space race and the use of engineering to combat natural disasters. Prior to this, free updates will add a completely new era and additional content to the 4X strategy game.
What updates for Civilization 7 can we expect over the next year?
Three major updates for Civilization 7 were revealed at the PAX West panel. The first of these, simply called Update 1.5.0 by Firaxis, will be released this month for all platforms. This update focuses on usability improvements and introduces a world map, the ability to found your civilization in a historically accurate location on this map, as well as improvements to map generation, influence management in diplomacy, and the user interface.
The first major update of 2027 is so extensive that it’s called the Arc of the Future. The Arc of the Future update will fundamentally change the game by adding a fourth age at the end of the timeline: the Atomic Age. This new age represents the modern era and therefore introduces city architecture, technologies, urban development trees, social policies, and narrative events to expand the player’s options for action in this period.
In return, players can produce new goods like enriched uranium and cinematic masterpieces to further develop their civilization. More importantly, however, the infamous Civilization leader Gandhi is finally making his debut in the Bow of the Future update. Players can currently sign up to test the update before its full release in 2027.
All of this culminates in the launch of Civilization 7: Earthrise in 2027. Earthrise is a paid expansion and brings cosmic updates for each age in the game. In the Ancient Age and Age of Discovery, players can conduct early research in the solar system and space, and even name discovered celestial bodies. In the Modern Age, players can launch missions into Earth’s orbit. And in the Atomic Age, players can establish a space agency, explore the solar system, and discover resources that they can then use on Earth.
As for the more down-to-earth additions of the expansion, there will be new unit abilities and technologies that can alter the terrain on the map, as well as new structures that help manage natural disasters and global warming. There’s still much we don’t know about Earthrise, but it seems to be exactly the kind of expansion that will excite fans of Civilization: Beyond Earth.
We can expect these exciting improvements to be introduced into Civilization 7 over the course of the next year, starting with Update 1.5.0 at the end of this month.
