Civilization 7 is already in development, Firaxis says

The next Civilization is in development at Firaxis Games, the studio’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, confirmed in a statement on Friday. Though no launch date or window was offered, the news comes six years after the launch of Civilization 6, a critical and commercial success across five platforms.

Take-Two and 2K Games announced the development in a news release also promoting Heather Hazen to Firaxis’ studio head, while also announcing the departure of longtime developer Jake Solomon. Formerly, Hazen was Firaxis Games’ chief operating officer.

“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy, beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise,” Hazen said in the statement.

Hazen continued, “I’m lucky to be working with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights for our millions of players around the world. In addition, we will continue to support Marvel’s Midnight Suns with post-launch content, and explore new creative projects for our teams.”

Firaxis’ Marvel’s Midnight Suns launched in December to positive reviews, but did not perform as well commercially, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

The Civilization franchise, begun by Sid Meier at Microprose more than 30 years ago, most recently launched Civilization 6 in the fall of 2016. The game was supported by two major expansions (Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm) and additional post-launch downloadable content, the last of which released in November. Civilization 6 has sold more than 65 million copies to date, Take-Two said.

Take-Two’s statement said that Ed Beach would continue as creative director for the next Civilization. Beach directed Civilization 6 and was a designer on 2010’s Civilization 5.