#Civilization 7 can’t outperform Civ 6 at launch, and dangerous opinions aren’t the one cause – Destructoid

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII at the moment holds a 51% constructive ranking on Steam, simply 10 days after its Feb. 11 launch. This makes it the lowest-rated sport within the franchise on the platform, falling under Sid Meier’s Civilization: Past Earth, which sits at 57% constructive.

On Metacritic, each video games have related critic scores, with Civilization 7 scoring 9 on Destructoid’s assessment. However Civ. 7 fares worse in person opinions, with a 3.6 out of 10 in comparison with Past Earth’s 5.5. It’s clear that gamers aren’t happy with the brand new entry, and that frustration is mirrored in its participant depend on Steam.

Gamers are struggling to maneuver on from Civilization 6

As of Feb. 21, SteamCharts confirmed that Civilization 7 had a peak concurrent participant depend of simply over 43,000, whereas Civilization 6 peaked at 49,000 on the identical day.

Though Civ 7 has maintained a better common participant depend over the past 30 days, its numbers are nonetheless decrease than Civ 6’s January 2025 common.

This implies that longtime Civ 6 gamers haven’t deserted the older sport to dedicate their time to Civ 7. Whereas destructive opinions actually play a task, there are deeper the reason why gamers aren’t making the swap.

Civilization 7 is pricey

Civ. 7 is priced at $69.99, barely increased than Civ 6’s authentic $59.99. Nevertheless, Civ 6 is ceaselessly on sale for less expensive, hitting an all-time low of $2.99 throughout the 2024 Steam Summer time Sale.

This implies Civ 6 has been steadily rising its participant base for years, whereas Civ 7 is simply beginning out—with a a lot increased barrier to entry.

Re-learning a posh sport like Civilization is tough

Whereas the core gameplay of Civilization stays related throughout titles, transferring from one sport to a different requires gamers to study new mechanics, neglect discontinued ones, and adapt to a recent meta and technique..

This studying curve is already a problem, however when gamers know Civ 7 has technical points, it makes switching even much less interesting.

Civilization 6 is a refined sport

Launched in 2016, Civilization 6 has years of updates and DLC expansions which have polished its gameplay and steadiness.

For veteran gamers, it’s simpler to stay with a well-rounded sport that helps established methods than to regulate to an unpolished new entry.

For brand spanking new gamers, Civ 6 can also be a greater place to begin, because it has been refined through the years, making it extra accessible than a sport nonetheless discovering its footing.

Different video games have confronted Civilization 7’s struggles

It’s no shock that Civilization 6 hasn’t seen a large drop in gamers following the discharge of Civ 7. Even Civilization 3—launched in 2001—nonetheless peaks at almost 2,000 concurrent gamers every day on Steam, whereas Civilization 5 reaches shut to twenty,000 concurrents every day.

This pattern isn’t unique to the Civilization collection. In line with SteamCharts:

• The unique Hades maintains virtually double the common participant depend of Hades 2 (although Hades 2 remains to be in early entry).
• Battlefield 1 (2016) continues to rival Battlefield V (2018) in participant depend.
• PAYDAY 3 averages simply 1,000 every day concurrent gamers, in comparison with 14,000 nonetheless taking part in PAYDAY 2.

These examples show a standard problem for sequels in long-running franchises—convincing gamers to maneuver on from a sport they’ve already invested years into.

However it’s simply the beginning for Civilization 7

What actually issues now could be how developer Firaxis and writer 2K reply. They’ve the chance to enhance the sport by way of updates, handle flip limits and UI points, and introduce incremental refinements with every patch.

If Civilization’s historical past is any indication, Civ. 7 gained’t stay within the center—it’s going to both notice its full potential, changing into a defining entry within the franchise that gamers probe for years, or wrestle to realize momentum, finally fading into obscurity like Past Earth.

Destructoid has reached out to 2K for remark.