Civilization 7 was a bit of an odd release last year. With a Metacritic score of 79 and positive comments from Take-Two’s leadership, it was considered a success. Longtime Firaxis fans weren’t as kind to it though, as many felt it was too disruptive or shallow. As expected, 2026 might be the year the studio makes the game’s future brighter.

I’m saying it was to be expected because we’ve been here before. Civilization 5 and 6 also faced heavy criticism upon release, before going on to become stone-cold 4X classics of the modern era. Long story short: Firaxis likes to experiment, whereas Civilization diehards are allergic to big shakeups… at least at first. Now, following a number of quick reworks and hot patches (as well as fun DLCs), Civilization 7’s future is coming into focus, and it’s looking a lot brighter than we expected.

On 2nd February, 2K and Firaxis shared their vision for the seventh game in the series as it enters 2026. It all starts with Update 1.3.2, which is “going live soon” even if we’ve got zero words on a specific date yet. The tentative list of changes and additions is long, but players can expect nested tooltips, balance passes across more civs like the French Empire and the Mughal, and reworks of AI diplomacy, coastal raids, and the Appeal system. Moreover, the “legendary demigod of Uruk, Gilgamesh” is coming as a thank-you gift for free.

Further into 2026 (spring is the current target), a batch of deep-cut changes are coming with a huge expansion-sized update called ‘Test of Time’ which aims to heavily redesign the flow of the entire game and all end goals. The community will be invited to playtest these bigger changes through the Firaxis Feature Workshop, but we’ve got a quick rundown of what you can expect if you’re waiting for the final release. And you can watch the video version below:

First, players will be able to play as a single civilization throughout the entire game, offering a traditional alternative to the “dynamic empire-building experience” of vanilla Civilization 7. Of course, reworks will be happening to accommodate such a radical extra, with a system called Syncretism that allows to “create all-new builds” that borrow from other civilizations once per age without burying the original one.

Victories are getting a top-to-bottom rework as well; Legacy Paths are less important now, and victories can be achieved earlier and by completing “a wide range of different activities” that should make both short and long-term competition more flexible and engaging. In fact, Legacy Paths as we knew them will be binned, with Triumphs taking over. They’re themed achievements of sorts that reward civilizations with bonuses and “cards” that can be used when an age starts.

Needless to say, that’s a lot to digest, and we’re not expecting all these changes to land from the get-go when they’re out, but it’s exciting to see Firaxis turn Civilization 7 into a game that bridges the gap between newcomers and veterans without erasing its original vision.