Where is it going wrong for Civilization 7? Firaxis has good intentions – after 34 years, the formula for the Civ series, and historical 4X games more generally, needs an overhaul. But perhaps Civilization 7 is trying to make too much change all at once. The eras system. The division between cities and towns. Coupled with the UI troubles and the absence of certain core features at launch, like name editing and team-based multiplayer, the initial reception to Civ 7 was always likely to be chilly. Some major updates have already been delivered and I think Firaxis can still make Civ 7 work, but the game's reputation is starting to solidify – and you can see it in the numbers.
In my own Civilization 7 is trying to be more playable and punchy, but not at the cost of detail and depth. At times, it's successful. But more often, it feels like Firaxis is trying to mix oil with water.
It's just over three months since Civilization 7 was released. Of the more than 31,000 Steam reviews it has gotten in its lifetime, 48% are positive. Recent reviews – that is, reviews posted in the last 30 days – are only 41% positive on aggregate. I'd like to think that, as Firaxis launches more updates and overhauls, that 'recent' score would go up, but so far, if the needle is moving, it seems to be downwards.
And then we have the player count. On Tuesday May 13, the number of people playing Civilization 7 concurrently fell below 5,000, to 4,874. Compare that to Civilization 6, which has close to 23,000 concurrent s right now, and even Civ 5, at 9,647, and it seems that series fans have a preference for the older, more conventional games.
On the contrary, between No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk 2077, and Sea of Thieves, there are plenty of comeback stories in the world of gaming. Perhaps, with more time and further updates Firaxis can make Civilization 7 better.
In the meantime, you can also try some of the other best RTS games on PC.
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