Support NeoGAF

[Kacho]

Civ VII has only been out for 3 months and it already has less than 10k players a day on Steam. Civ V and Civ VI are crushing it on a daily basis.

Reviews are dreadful.

Two weeks ago they released a promotional trailer that received backlash. No clue what the like/dislike ratio is but I'm sure it's terrible.


Where does Firaxis go from here? How do they salvage this?

 

[kpopSuperstar]

8

Civ VII has only been out for 3 months and it already has less than 10k players a day on Steam. Civ V and Civ VI are crushing it on a daily basis.

Reviews are dreadful.

Two weeks ago they released a promotional trailer that received backlash. No clue what the like/dislike ratio is but I'm sure it's terrible.


Where does Firaxis go from here? How do they salvage this?

That trailed has 543 likes and 14k dislikes.

I don't see a future where the fanbase switches to the new one. I applaud them for trying something different, but they cleary went in the wrong direction.

 

[unfashionable]

I think the new epoch system as the main feature was ill advised for one thing. that put me right off personally and a major complaint of steam reviews of this is "mixed" vs "very positive" of VI

 

[diffusionx]

The expansion has to be really good. A lot of people are waiting for that, I think. The game just shipped unfinished, period.

The trailer didn't help.
but...

This is the real problem and just makes me sad.

 

[YOU PC BRO?!]

In recent entries, they have focused on accessibility rather than complexity. Each game feeling more 'dumbed' down than the last. The 'woke' selection of leaders is also irritating. Its almost like they have forgotten their core audience. Also, instead of creating truly distinct Civs with unique tech paths, units and buildings - the Civs have became practically interchangeable. What's the point in having different Civs if they all play the same? The devs don't know what the game is any more. Civilization, creatively, has never been more muddled.

 

[Kacho]

That trailed has 543 likes and 14k dislikes.

 

[InterMusketeer]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's over. The game released in a terrible state, the core gameplay isn't what people want and the heavy monetization makes potential buyers apprehensive to jump in.

They'll probably do one major expansion like they did for Beyond Earth, and then it's on to a more traditional game or spin-off.

 

[Hudo]

No. My recommendation for Firaxis is to go play Civilization II again to get what made the series great in the first place.

 

[Brakum]

In recent entries, they have focused on accessibility rather than complexity. Each game feeling more 'dumbed' down than the last. The 'woke' selection of leaders is also irritating. Its almost like they have forgotten their core audience. Also, instead of creating truly distinct Civs with unique tech paths, units and buildings - the Civs have became practically interchangeable. What's the point in having different Civs if they all play practically the same? The devs don't know what the game is any more. Civilization, creatively, has never been more muddled.

The game feeling samey is not the civs fault. Civs have never been more unique. They all have 2 unique units, 2 unique building or one unique improvement, and a unique civics tree.

 

[Sebastian1295]

No. My recommendation for Firaxis is to go play Civilization II again to get what made the series great in the first place.

I don't think fireaxis have the talent to do a truly great game anymore. They made marvels midnight suns before this newest Civilization and that game bombed sales wise.

 

[flying_sq]

Of course, these games last years up to a decade. The launch status will probably be a footnote

 

[Hudo]

I don't think fireaxis have the talent to do a truly great game anymore. They made marvels midnight suns before this newest Civilization and that game bombed sales wise.

I remember that not too long ago, I wanted them to make a "remake" of XCOM: Terror from the Deep (still the best XCOM game, imho). Now I am not sure if I want that anymore.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Hasn't it been par for the course with the Civ games since 4 tho? 5 wasn't all that great until gods and kings dlc balanced the hell out of it, same with 6 and its dlc. I haven't bought the game due to this assumption. Wait for the rebalance dlc and enjoy the best version of the game.

 

[Catphish]

I used to froth over new Civ games. I've owned them all. This is the first one I haven't the slightest inclination to purchase, and that last trailer solidified that notion.

 

[Hashassin]

This game came out with 5 or so day one dlcs correct? All the way to the boiler room of extra hell.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Sometimes you take a risk and it doesn't always pay off. Sad that every risk is such high stakes in this racket. It is actually a sad case right here. You try and you hope but sometimes it just doesn't pan out. Here's to hoping it will all turn out okay somehow. Meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.

 

[SidViscous]

The UI is terrible and a big step backwards, they should get that nice Civ 6 UI intern back to fix things!

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

If they are smart, for additional revenue purposes. Since they are losing revenue on Civ VII…

I would like to see a Xcom collection for PC, MAC, and all consoles including NS2. I would also like to see a remake of Civ Revolution for Xbox 360. It was a quicker, pick up and play experience. They could modify it some and bring it up to today's standards.

Finally, i would try one final big update for Civ VII to "fix" the gameplay. If it fails, then move on.

Release Xcom collection and Civ VII update in 2026 , and Civ Rev in 2027.

Firaxis looking bad with Civ VII and Sons of Midnight game. They need to go back to "safe", Sid Meier and the team are great devs and need to course correct.

 

[diffusionx]

If they are smart, for additional revenue purposes. Since they are losing revenue on Civ VII…

I would like to see a Xcom collection for PC, MAC, and all consoles including NS2. I would also like to see a remake of Civ Revolution for Xbox 360. It was a quicker, pick up and play experience. They could modify it some and bring it up to today's standards.

Finally, i would try one final big update for Civ VII to "fix" the gameplay. If it fails, then move on.

Release Xcom collection and Civ VII update in 2026 , and Civ Rev in 2027.

Firaxis looking bad with Civ VII and Sons of Midnight game. They need to go back to "safe", Sid Meier and the team are great devs and need to course correct.

Midnight Suns is EXCELLENT, people are retarded.

 

[unfashionable]

I would also like to see a remake of Civ Revolution for Xbox 360. It was a quicker, pick up and play experience. They could modify it some and bring it up to today's standards.

.

Thats a great idea actually. I would buy that as someone who doesn't have the time to complete a normal civilization

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

Midnight Suns is EXCELLENT, people are retarded.

I agree it is pretty good. BUT, it is not mainstream! THEY spent a ton of money on the Marvel license and used the "cards" which was a mistake, clearly. I don't know if they thought they would convert blue ocean Marvel Snap users or what. It was a mistake and a costly one.

Edit: I don't call people names typically, but if you are one of those people who see games as "fairy tales and rainbows" and not as a business, you are mistaken. You should re-evaluate this theory. Or you are a Fireaxis Dev.

The tricky situation which the gaming market currently finds itself in is, they need to find a way to merge both ideas as well as bring in new "gamers". Consoles and PC have done an exceedingly poor job of converting the kids who grew up on iPads and phones. That market is coming of age, and unfortunately, not even Nintendo has converted them the way they want too.

The other issue with games like Marvel Midnight Sons is the ip license is so expensive it makes it a AA-AAA title automatically, and this game was never going to bring in that type of revenue.

IMO, Sid Meier and the Civ IP are a true treasure and one of the 4 or 5 most important IP's in the history of gaming, that still exists. I want it to be successful. You can't find many non Nintendo games as successful as Civ from the 1990's until now without "shooting". So that is really important, imo.

 

[Illyrius]

Midnight Suns is EXCELLENT, people are retarded.

Yes, the forced dialogue in between missions was particularly great...

 

[Majukun]

all civ games at the start are kinda bad...depends on the direction the devs want to go for though..they went for streamlining the game with 7 and it didn't really resonate with the userbase..now they can course correct or double down like namco did with tekken 8

 

[thegame983]

The only good change they made to the game was commanders. I don't think anything else works.

 

[mopspear]

8

That trailed has 543 likes and 14k dislikes.

I don't see a future where the fanbase switches to the new one. I applaud them for trying something different, but they cleary went in the wrong direction.

I think I've only seen a video ratio'd this bad once and I've been paying attention for awhile. My goodness.

 

[winjer]

It can be salvaged but it will require a good amount of will and work.
But with the woke crow in that studio, there is bound to be very little of either.
I fear that they will keep doubling down on the same nonsense, until the game is abandoned by 2K.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Probably the only game series I've bought up until 6

Yet the last one I played looked like this

..I should really start working on that backlog a bit better

 

[belmarduk]

This game just.... isn't fun to play. Not a bad thing as I've spent way too much time playing Civ over the years. It's just shocking to me that they made a bad Civ game.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I'm part of the problem because I'm not smart (or interested) enough to learn a whole new Civ game's nuances. I started with Civ V and played it for dozens of hours. Bought Civ VI, and it was like Civ V but not, so I didn't see a point and dropped it. I'll play Civ V to get my fix of the series.

If I'm at all representative of the market, that's a problem for Firaxis to solve, not me. Or they can get combative.

 

[SJRB]

Two weeks ago they released a promotional trailer that received backlash. No clue what the like/dislike ratio is but I'm sure it's terrible.

Allow me:

 

[Dacvak]

Damn man. I didn't realize this game was in that rough of shape. That's a huge shame.

 

[Hookshot]

Loved the first few. 3 was my crack, which is why I don't play them anymore. Literal all nighters.

Maybe don't make a game called "Civilization" and make the British Empire DLC though

 

[LakeOf9]

I think they can easily do it, yes. Civ 5 was considered an even worse disaster at launch, and today it is considered the greatest strategy game of all time, because of how comprehensively Gods and Kings, and especially Brave New World, overhauled and fixed the framework.

The expansions have to be good and bring all their ideas together. I have faith in them, and I hope they are able to do it. Even if they can't, I think the general opinion of Civ 7 will continue to turn around over time, because updates and patches will continue to fix things big and small.

 

[xVodevil]

With a masssive, massive revamp expansion yes. But I'd say the ages system in it's current state is a rather big miss with forcing you into certain gameplay style to explore and expand to a whole new continent. This is clearly not the game to tie players hands like that.
On the other hand wouldn't mind mixing up civs and leaders, but maybe drop some more actual great leaders? Shame, as base Civ 6 was pretty damn good with lots of mechanics kept from the final Civ 5 state.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

I like it a lot, but needs an expansion. It's too content-lite on many of its mechanics.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Making Civilization woke was a hilariously dumb idea. Do they know they are a niche franchise for a small and extremely dedicated fanbase or not? Even if the "modern audience" existed, none of them would be interested in Civilization

 

[nowhat]

Midnight Suns is EXCELLENT, people are retarded.

Gameplay-wise, sure. But the writing was so atrocious that I just got PTSD by remembering it.

 

[winjer]

Making Civilization woke was a hilariously dumb idea. Do they know they are a niche franchise for a small and extremely dedicated fanbase or not? Even if the "modern audience" existed, none of them would be interested in Civilization

Small? Niche?
A game like Civ VI sold over 11 million copies. And Civ V, sold over 8 million.
Most AAA games struggle to sell half as much.

 

[MSduderino]

I doubt they released a half finished product and expected it to sell as much as the last 2 expanded upon entries (that were also letdowns at launch). Did they hold VII's ideas back for the expansions? Probably, and you can't expect this to work over and over again. At some point, you have to swing for the fences, hold nothing back, and put as many good ideas into the game as you can. Remember when Civ launched as a complete game (we have to go back to Civ IV for that).

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Small? Niche?
A game like Civ VI sold over 11 million copies. And Civ V, sold over 8 million.
Most AAA games struggle to sell half as much.

They are basically the only player in their genre, like Mortal Kombat. Despite MK always selling 10+ million nobody pretends fighting games aren't a niche genre today

 

[Hari Seldon]

I really like the design decisions they made with 7. I like the age system because it focuses gameplay and allows for the unique civ stuff to be more relevant. I find the building system vastly better than 6, although you need mods to expose what is going on due to the terrible UI. And of course the commanders are great.

The problem was that they unified the PC and console UI and did a terrible job exposing the information needed.

But I really like the game overall. Way more than 6 which I hated.

 

[Randall365]

Charged me £20 to play as Britain

Only let me play as Britain for 1/3 of the game.

Still no decent British leaders.

Fuck them.

 

[danisgoingforashield]

i heard somewhere that when sid meier sold the rights for his games he said that the secret of any new release in the series is: you need to change a few things but have a solid core mechanics that are consistent in all the series. but looks like they changed everything that made civ civ, so naturally people don't like it

 

[Success]

Bought Civ 5 on launch (Was my first ever Civ game)
Bought Civ 6 on launch

Civ 7 had so much negative reviews from the press and users that I skipped it.

And even now it looks boring.

The game needed 18 more months in the oven.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Allow me:

I'm not surprised.
The messaging surrounding this, and the whole premise is some of the most tone deaf stuff I've seen devs do in a while.

Now, with about 90% certainty, all of this was already planned in advance way before the game even came out (and subsequently failed to meet demands), and they now only follow the plan and deadlines they set long time ago.

Which is fine if things are going according to plan. A trailer like that would go over decently well with the audience if the audience was on your side after a good launch of your game.
As it is now, they should've scrapped everything and enter damage control mode - this is very much "pretend happiness while your house is on fire".

 

[vpance]

Recent Steam reviews slipped to Mostly Negative - 37%. Ouch

Some interesting Glassdoor reviews for Firaxis
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Firaxis-Games-E260324-RVW95876271.htm

I was part of a layoff in 2023. People that had been there 10 or 20+ years were let go, including the CEO. They had told us weeks prior, multiple times, that there would be no layoffs.

The long time 20+ years CEO was fired and replaced by the COO Heather Hazen

I worked for three years as a UI designer. Throughout the entire process, I was treated as the game design department's toy to abuse and hurt. Production was too asleep at the wheel to help save me, and the c-suite only cares about their next vacation. There's a mountain of examples of times I was treated poorly by game design, and the c-suite tacitly endorsed that mistreatment by sheltering their friends from the consequences of their own actions.

This scheme, where game design tortures artists while the c-suite makes excuses to shield them, resulted in three years of my life's work being destroyed, without evidence, and the entire project's launch being ruined. The people who asked "why would you shoot us in the foot like this?" are all fired now. The people who architected this scheme are still cashing their checks to this day.

I can not stress enough, that if you have respect for yourself, respect for the medium, or respect for art-- this is not the studio for you. I can tell you from experience that you will be lied about, your work destroyed to satisfy the egos of designers who stopped caring about games a decade ago, and you'll still be dealing with the professional fallout over a year later. You owe it to yourself, you owe it to your career, and you owe it to your peers to stop building UIs for a company that refuses to see the value in your time, effort, or skill.

As alluded before, you're letting your friendships get in the way of your job. If a lead designer comes back from an Ayahuasca vision trip and wants to destroy the entire game, you say 'no' because that's your job. If a lead designer comes back from a brief absence and wants to destroy the entire game, you say 'no' because that's your job. If a lead designer has a minor personal spat with another team member and wants to destroy the entire game, you say 'no' because that's your job. You're not their friend, you're their boss.

I begged with you, a year ago, to see this. You refused to listen. You deliberately chose those bad reviews. You deliberately chose this state for this product. You deliberately chose to hurt me.

Higher ups let the lead designer run wild I guess.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

The long time 20+ years CEO was fired and replaced by the COO Heather Hazen

Many such cases.

 

[Yoboman]

They made it woke with all these countries you can play that aren't America

 

[vpance]

Many such cases.

It's hard not to make assumptions when you look at their past game experiences but yeah this is probably another one of those underserved promotions.

Big layoffs for all the expensive long time employees to make way for more modern thinkers.