Civilization VII: 'Arc of Tomorrow' and 'Earthrise' Announced

The “Arc of Tomorrow” update introduces the Atomic Age, extending the game’s playable timeline from the 1950s through the near future. This new era features updated urban architecture, revised tech and civic trees, new Triumphs, social policies, and narrative events. Players will also encounter a new roster of period-specific civilizations and the return of leader Gandhi.

Nuclear gameplay receives significant expansion with new offensive and defensive options and units, including a new twist on mutually assured destruction. Empire management tools are also being refined, allowing players to recognize the independence of their Settlements and release them as City-States to better address empire size and loyalty. The update also adds Great Works of Film, where Film Crews hunt for filming locations that offer variable benefits based on the genre and quality of the produced Film, and Manufactured Goods, which allow players to combine specific commodities to produce powerful new resources like Enriched Uranium.

“Earthrise” is the first paid expansion for the title, themed around the historic space race and missions across the solar system. In the Antiquity and Exploration Ages, players chart the night sky and name celestial bodies. The Modern Age introduces early orbital missions around Earth and the moon, while the Atomic Age allows players to launch missions across the solar system using their own established space agency. Discovering planetary features and untapped resources in space feeds back into the civilization’s power on Earth.

The expansion also focuses on environmental adaptability. New unit abilities and technologies enable players to alter the terrain and bonuses of tiles in their empire. New civil engineering structures help combat increasing Natural Disasters as global temperatures rise, and players can even reverse the warming itself. As an empire becomes more proficient in working the land in specific biomes, the civilization earns new gameplay advantages that enhance abilities in those biomes.

Update 1.5.0, launching later this month, brings quality-of-life improvements and the long-requested True Start Location: Earth map. This new map generates the land, features, and resources of the real world, allowing players to start their campaign in a location representative of where their civilization began in the real world. Each game spawns a different set of natural wonders in their natural locations to keep the experience fresh. The update also includes updated Terra Incognita and Shuffle map types using the Voronoi map generation algorithm, speedier map loading and generation, more varied resource placement, and diplomacy updates that allow players to use Influence to stay in an alliance without joining their allies’ wars. User interface updates include additional plot tooltips, settlement banners, game set up improvements, and a new tile ruler for city planning.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and Apple Arcade.