Civilization 7, the latest entry to Sid Meier’s long-running franchise, is out. The game features several Ages and numerous Civilizations and leaders, with many more to come, as indicated by a recent datamine. These include a fourth Age, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, Pirate Republics, among others.
The datamine was shared on the Civilization subreddit on Feb. 8, indicating several new leaders and mechanics that could make their way into the title. Historical and current nations such as the Ottoman Empire, the Maori, Iceland, and, most interestingly, Pirate Republics, all appear in the files, though these could have at some point been part of the game and then cut for gameplay reasons. The Ottomans were previously present in Civilization 6 and released as part of a DLC, as were the Maori, who came out alongside the Ottomans in the Gathering Storm expansion, so it would make sense if we were to see them in Civ 7 once again.
Those leading these new civilizations would be persons of great renown, including Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, one of the most fierce pirates in history. Sayyida al-Hurra, a Moroccan privateer from the late 15th century, could also potentially lead a Pirate Republic, though in Civilization 7 leaders are separate from the civilizations you play, allowing mixing and matching akin to Humankind. Whina Cooper, a Maori activist advocating for the rights of the Maori people in New Zealand, also shows up in the files, indicating that even more recent leaders could potentially show up in the game down the line (Cooper died in 1994 and was prominent throughout the second half of the 20th century).
The final thing that the dataminer uncovered was the presence of a fourth “Atomic” Age. As things stand, Civilization 7 has three Ages total—Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Atomic Ages are generally present in games of this kind, usually set somewhere before Modern or “Contemporary” Periods and illustrating the Cold War era.
Some didn’t take these revelations lightly, as they feel 2K Games purposefully locked out basic content so it could be released as part of DLC packages or expansion packs down the line. One disgruntled player wrote how Civilization 7 was a “proxy for selling the addons and other DLC,” adding that they will wait for a few years before purchasing a large Humble Bundle edition of the game containing all of the additions 2K allegedly plans to lock out and sell separately.
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