Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will feature new nations, eras, and civilizations to build and, for the first time in the series, allow you to mix historical leaders to create a completely new story. This is reported by The Verge, whose journalists talked to developers from Firaxis Games and played a three-hour demo of the game.

Among other things, Firaxis Games also presented a new gameplay trailer for the game and announced that Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will be released on February 11, 2025.

In the previous installments of the series, the nations available to players had several historical leaders of different nations to choose from, but in the new installment, this choice will be even wider, as the leaders will no longer belong to a particular nation. In Part 7, players will be able to choose Cleopatra to lead France or Abraham Lincoln to develop Japan.

“We’ve known for a long time that our community has wanted a ‘build my own civilization’ tool kit… If we make all the leaders balance with each other and all the civs balance with each other, then mixing and matching will work,” said Ed Beach, creative director of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII.

Before the game session begins, the game will suggest leaders who are best suited for a particular civilization based on their style of government and strengths. The Verge journalists cite the example of Amina, Queen of Zazzau, who is an economic and militaristic leader, which is best suited for civilizations that like to fight and earn a lot. There will be a lot of similar comparisons in the game.

Beach also said that Firaxis Games develops games according to the scheme of three equal parts – one remains the same as in the previous part, the second improves something, and the third offers something new. According to The Verge, the gameplay of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII remains mostly the same, but the game has an updated interface and a feature that allows players to create separate districts in the city.

One part of the update is also the system of historical eras, which will now be mostly divided into three chapters – antiquity, exploration, and modernity. Each chapter has legacy paths or goals that fall into one of four categories – economic, military, cultural, and scientific. The economic path, for example, requires players to create trade routes and accumulate resources that other leaders are willing to pay a lot for.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, among other things, is based on the idea that history is built on layers. Cities will be able to change dramatically under the influence of different empires. For example, London, for which the Romans built city walls, which the Saxons later improved, and then the Normans came and updated them even more.

The new layered history system and the ability to mix civilizations for the first time in the series will allow players to change their civilization at different stages of the game. Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will keep track of all decisions made by players during their chosen legacy path and update the civilization in a new chapter.