"Civ 7's 1.1.1 Update Aims to Boost Competitiveness Against Civ 6 and 5 on Steam"

Firaxis, the developer behind Civilization 7, has announced the crucial update 1.1.1 for the strategy game, which comes at a time when the game is seeing lower player counts on Steam compared to its predecessors, Civilization 6 and the 15-year-old Civilization 5. On Valve's platform, Civilization 7 has recorded a 24-hour peak of 16,921 concurrent players, a number that falls short of making it into Steam's top 100 most-played games. In comparison, Civilization 5, which was released in 2010, achieved a 24-hour peak of 17,423 players, while Civilization 6, released in 2016, boasted a significantly higher peak of 40,676 players, indicating that many fans of the series are still favoring the older titles.

In a detailed post on Steam, Firaxis outlined the "additions and refinements" that players can expect in Update 1.1.1, including:

• Quick Move Functionality
• New Natural Wonder: Mount Everest
• Additional UI Updates & Polish
• Settlement & Commander Renaming
• And more!

Lead designer Ed Beach provided an in-depth look at these changes in a video, promising that the full patch notes would be released soon.

Civilization 7 Update 1.1.1 Patch Notes:

The Quick Move feature is now an optional setting that can be toggled in the game's menu, allowing units to reach their destination instantly and thus speeding up gameplay.

A significant update to map generation includes a new start position option. The default setting for single-player games is now "Standard," which offers varied and less predictable continents similar to Civilization 6. Multiplayer games will continue to use the "Balanced" setting to ensure a level playing field on more consistent maps.

Players can now rename their settlements and commanders, adding a personal touch to their gameplay. Additionally, a new feature allows players to restart the game with a simple click, regenerating the map with new seeds but retaining the same leader and civilization choices, reminiscent of a similar feature in Civilization 6.

User interface improvements include a city and town panel that remains open during purchases, new notifications for city attacks, indicators for crises, and enhanced resource tooltips. The update also brings significant changes to the game's pacing.

Alongside these updates, the paid "Crossroads of the World Collection" introduces Bulgaria as a new civilization, along with Nepal and the new leader Simón Bolívar, available starting March 25.

Civilization 7 has sparked controversy among series veterans due to its new mechanics and has struggled to maintain player interest on Steam, where it holds a 'mixed' user review rating and received a 7/10 from IGN. In a recent interview with IGN, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged the negative feedback but remained optimistic, suggesting that the "legacy Civ audience" would warm up to the game with more playtime, describing Civilization 7's early performance as "very encouraging."

For players looking to master the game, our comprehensive guides cover everything from achieving every victory type in Civilization 7, understanding the significant changes from Civilization 6, avoiding common mistakes, to exploring all map types and difficulty settings.