As of right now,Civilization 7has a ‘mixed’ review score on its Steam page. This, of course, shouldn’t surprise you; the game’s always felt like that.
But we have to specify that because, apparently, that score is more of a shock to the players than the game’s publisher:Take-Two Interactive. They “feel good” about the game, noting that Civ titles have always been a “slow burn” and that, eventually, Civ 7 will enter the “pantheon” of the highest-rated Civ games.
Deific ascensions may be a tad optimistic. But hey, when the world feels like it’s going downhill, it’s nice to have a smile every now and then.
This information comes to us via an interview withIGN, where the company’s CEO - Strauss Zelnick - shared his hopes for the game moving forward.
“I think the key thing is that Civ has always been a slow burn. It’s always been a title that had — I’m not really a big believer in the long tail theory of the entertainment business — but Civ is an example of that theory."
Right now our projections for the lifetime value of the title are very consistent with our initial expectations for the title.
At its core, Zelnick’s comments are that, despite everything, the state of Civilization 7 isn’t that far from what the publisher expected, sales-wise. That sure, things are bad now, but when you zoom out, it’s just a blip on the radar.
“While we have had to make changes,” Zelnick continued, “I feel like consumer uptake is better and better and we feel really good about the title.”
Several of the game’s Steam reviews remark that the game feels unfinished; that leaving it on your wishlist for a few years before buying would be better than picking up Civ 7 now. If that was the plan from the get-go, then intentionally releasing an unmarked “Early Access” project does feel a bit shady.
That said, Civ 7 has had its time being raked over various coals - in no small part due to its presentation as a released, finalized product. If Take-Two’s intent was that hidden Early Access maneuver, then the game’s reputation has taken a proportional hit.
To their credit, they have been making an effort to dig Civ 7 out from its reputational hole. They reacted to fans' harsh criticisms witha roadmapthat they’re still following, with thelatest updatetouching up UI elements, improving quality-of-life, adding auto-exploration for several units, and more.
I think over time it’s going to take its place in its civilization pantheon in a very successful, credible way.
