Firaxis promises fixes for Civilization 7 after mixed reception at launch. User interface improvements are priority
Civilization 7 will receive patches inspired by feedback from players, who have considerable reservations about the state of the game after its release in advance access.
The developers of Sid Meier's Civilization 7 announced plans for the game's development—or rather, addressing issues following its "mixed" reception in early access (or advanced access, as Steam refers to this publishing model).
The seventh Civilization aroused considerable emotions before its launch. After all, it's a new installment of one of the oldest, still-developing series and has been the absolute king in the 4X strategy market for years. The developers announced major changes that were supposed to take the game to new heights.
Access too far in advance
Emotions are still visible after the release in paid early access - it's just that the fans' moods are far from happy. Since yesterday the ratings on Steam have improved slightly, but let's be honest: 47% positive reviews for Civilization isn't a good result. Especially since it's "early access" at full and not at all low price - something that probably mainly the biggest fans of the series decided on.
What is probably the funniest thing about this situation is that the problem turned out not to be the new or modified gameplay mechanics. Changes in the age system, settlements, etc. are praised even in negative reviews, despite being the main source of concern for Civilization fans.
Interface issues
After such reception, it was only a matter of time before the devs responded to these allegations. A post published on the official game page and on Steam confirms that Firaxis Games studio carefully reads the feedback from early access players on Steam and intends to do something about them. The devs will soon share a detailed "roadmap," but they have already presented a general outline of the updates that are supposed to fix Civilization 7.
A completely different element than the new mechanics attracts the most complaints: a user interface missing many features familiar from Civilization 6. That's why UI is a priority for the developer. The team is still going through player feedback but has already announced plans to improve map readability, do some general improvements, and make the interface more intuitive.
Moreover, Firaxis Games studio promised to add missing features that fans are demanding, including:
- possibility of creating teams in multiplayer mode (cooperative play);
- more types of maps;
- customization options (including changing the names of religions and cities).
Furthermore, the release of the 1.1.0 update in March was confirmed, which is supposed to introduce Quality of Life (QoL) improvements, as well as its balance (including diplomacy and crises).
Players appreciated the message from the developers. Internet users are leaving comments for the developer, and some of them note with a hint of sarcasm that the creators are openly referring to the earlier release of Civilization 7 as "early access." Let's agree: the term "advanced access" or "pre-access," coined by Steam, hasn't yet become widespread as a term for this phenomenon.
As you can see, Civ 7 is another title that has discouraged players from the idea of new early access.
Sid Meier's Civilization 7 will be released for all players on February 11.
- With planned changes, Civilization 7 has a chance to become the kind of game it should be at launch
- Civilization 7 received major 1.1.0 update and its first DLC. However, players aren't returning to the new strategy
- Civilization 7 players get premature access to next DLC. Firaxis or Sony may have accidentally caused this
