Summary
- Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says Civilization 7’s mixed reception is typical for the franchise, citing similar early reactions to past entries.
- Despite criticism, Zelnick insists the game is selling well and expects its reputation to improve over time.
- Critics and players remain divided on the game, as underlined by its mixed reviews and low concurrent Steam player counts compared to the previous two Civilization titles.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is unconcerned about the mixed reception of Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, which continues to draw polarizing reactions months after launch. While he acknowledged the game had some issues at launch, the executive believes Civilization 7 now has a bright future ahead of it.
The seventh numbered entry in the seminal 4X strategy franchise launched in mid-February 2025. Civilization 7 reviewed decently compared to the average game release, but underperformed critically relative to the rest of the franchise and some other Firaxis titles. It currently holds an average score of 79 and a 77% reviewer recommendation rate on OpenCritic. Its fan reception appears noticeably worse, as underlined by its “Mixed” player rating on Steam, based on over 31,000 submissions. It is the only Civilization game to lack a positive user score on Valve’s storefront as of this writing.
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While it won’t go down in history as the highest-rated Civilization game ever, Firaxis’s latest title hasn’t raised any major concerns from the higher-ups at Take-Two. “We definitely had some challenges at launch,” Zelnick conceded in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz. Nevertheless, the CEO insisted Take-Two is overall pleased with the game, and has historical reasons to believe Civilization 7‘s mixed reception is par for the course rather than something demanding a massive correction. “Every time we’ve come out with a new platform iteration of Civilization, there’s been some consternation on the part of consumers who love the franchise and are beholden to its prior iteration,” Zelnick said.
Civilization 7 Selling Well Despite Mixed Reviews
The CEO expects that community skepticism surrounding Civilization 7 will wane over time, as Firaxis keeps addressing concerns and delivering more content. Take-Two anticipates that the game will enjoy a long sales cycle, similar to its predecessors. In the meantime, Zelnick maintains that Civilization 7 is already performing well commercially. Civilization 7 led the sales on its largest target platform before it even hit the market, fueled solely by the strength of its pre-orders. Separately, Circana recently reported that Civilization 7 is currently one of 2025’s best-selling games in the U.S., ranking eighth as of early May. Both achievements support Zelnick’s claim that Civilization 7 is selling well.
Every time we’ve come out with a new platform iteration of Civilization, there’s been some consternation on the part of consumers who love the franchise and are beholden to its prior iteration.
Civilization 7 Player Activity Plummeted
However, PC player engagement metrics tell another story: Civilization 7 is currently struggling to retain players. As of May 18, its 24-hour concurrent Steam player peak amounted to 11,829 users, according to SteamDB. For comparison, Civilization 6 had a peak of 46,207 people during the same period. Even the 15-year-old Civilization 5 is currently being played by more people than Civ 7, by a ratio of 2-to-1.
Current community criticism of Civilization 7 largely centers on complaints that the game is overly simplified and lacks polish. Firaxis has acknowledged some of these concerns and adjusted its near-term plans in response, including delaying some Civilization 7 content to focus on quality-of-life updates that players are demanding.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
9/10
- Released
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February 11, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ // Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
