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For a game as rooted in real world history and elements and figures from our very real past as Sid Meier’s Civilization, some might think that it could be a little… dry for those who aren’t really that interested in reliving the past. But, as the team from Firaxis Games argued during the PAX West 2024 Civilization VII Developer Panel, that’s missing the point of what Civ actually is.

“Civ is not, in and of itself, a historical simulator, it’s not supposed to be,” pointed out executive producer Dennis Shirk. “We give you the pieces of history to play with, you know: the languages spoken, what they’e wearing, uniforms, hats, everything around you is accurate when we hand it off, and then our fans screw it all up and tell their own stories, which is what’s great!”

That’s the kind of thinking that some might think would upset Andrew Johnson, the senior historian at Firaxis Games — but the reality turns out to be exactly the opposite.

“What a civilization is, is a conglomeration of different kinds of ideas that came from the past, but also material conditions that shape how we realize those things, or may reshape our own ideas, and I think for me, the changing civilization speaks towards… nothing’s inevitable, right? There’s no destiny that we all have,” he argued. “The times and places that we exist now are the development of these different configurations through time. And so, for me, the notion of changing a civ to something else, is a realization of this or that possibility. So even though that possibility didn’t actually happen in the past, maybe we could explore it like this. Even if this is the one that did happen, well then, you might want to just try something else. What if?”

This, Johnson suggested, is the key appeal to Civilization in all of its forms — and especially true of Civilization VII: “I think what makes many historical games, and Civ, fun, is that ‘What if?’ I love doing that.”

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is scheduled for release February 11, 2025, and is available for pre-purchase now.

Watch the complete Civilization VII panel below.

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