Hey Civ fans,
Update 1.2.5 is rolling out now on all platforms! Inside you’ll find new themed City-States to expand your Suzeraining options, new map types with improved generation, and a full rework of Napoleon. We’ve also made a wide range of balance adjustments and quality-of-life changes, including UI improvements to the production menu, building placement, and growth events. And finally, this update includes the remainder of the Right to Rule* collection, introducing a new leader Lakshmibai and new civilizations Silla and Qajar.
A few quick notes before you dive in:
While we aim to maintain backwards compatibility for existing saves as much as possible, some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign. For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age.
If you encounter any new bugs or issues, try disabling any mods, as some may not yet be compatible with the latest update.
Are you playing on Steam and want to finish your current save under a previous version? You can do so using our legacy Steam beta branch.
Read on for the full notes and happy building!
New Map Types & Improved Map Generation
We’ve heard a lot of feedback on our maps, especially about the predictability of the map and how it makes games feel the same over time. So we started from scratch and created a new base algorithm for making maps in Civ VII. You can read more about the technical details in our recent From the Devs article here.
This update includes two new map types: “Continents and Islands”, and “Pangaea and Islands”. These options create more interesting, significantly less predictable map shapes. The “Continents and Islands” map type is the new default option for single player games. As these maps are intended to give more variety, they do not have an option for a “Balanced” start. Instead, all previous maps are still available in the game for players that are looking for balance > variety.
These new default maps are the first step in a series of map improvements we have planned. Expect changes to biomes coming soon, as well as more map types to follow!
UI Improvements: Developing Your Settlements
Back in Update 1.2.2, we rolled out a new loading screen, which was the first glimpse of a much deeper UI overhaul we’ve been working on under the hood. Since launch, we’ve basically rebuilt how we handle UI on the backend, and that’s unlocked our ability to make bigger, more noticeable changes in the frontend. With 1.2.5, alongside some of the usual UI tweaks, we’ve done a redesign of some big decision points every Civ player knows: what to build, where to put it, and how to grow your empire.
Here are some noticeable UI/UX changes coming in this update:
Production Menu: now shows base Yields, adjacency opportunities, and warehouse impacts up front.
Building Placement: new Yield indicators, a revamped building slot icon, and featured tiles for placement consideration.
Growth Events: the same visual language as placement, with before/after previews to help you decide between improvements vs. specialists.
Constructible Tooltips: reformatted with a cleaner layout, consistent info, and tags to summarize its role.
Yield Losses: now surface much more clearly across contexts, so trade-offs are less hidden.
The choice is still up to you whether to place that Garden or whether it’s time for a Specialist, but with these changes, we hope the UI feels like it's working with you, not against you! For a much fuller breakdown, check out Firaxian Tom Shaw’s deep-dive here.
Diplomatic and Expansionist City-States
Do you like City-States? Want more types of City-States? Good news! This update brings the new Diplomatic and Expansionist City-State types, rounding out our roster to cover all of the same Attributes you see on leaders and civs.
Suzeraining a Diplomatic City-State provides new options centered around Happiness and Diplomatic Actions. One of their bonuses during each Age is a new Diplomatic Action. Suzeraining an Expansionist City-State provides options focused on Food and the expansion of your empire, for both tall and wide gameplay.
As part of this expansion of our City-State catalogue we’ve gone back and rebalanced some previous City-State effects. You can find details on these, as well as the full list of Diplomatic and Expansionist bonuses in the notes below.
Strategic Balance Pass
Over the last several months, we’ve made several changes around leaders, civs, City-States, Age Transition settings, and more. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about how you’re playing the game and the way it's presenting – or not presenting – a meaningful strategic challenge. In evaluating balance, a few things became clear:
Many of the best options for maximizing Yields are “off-map”, based on passive bonuses from Attributes, City-States, and Empire Resources. Many of these bonuses are stacking percentages available to all civs, which diminishes the value of leader and civ abilities in comparison.
It’s often easy to build every available Building in an Age. While not inherently a problem, this reduces strategic decision making: players were choosing when to build, not what to build. Building value also diminishes as Yields climb, making them even less interesting decision points.
It’s usually optimal to play with as many cities as possible. Converting a new city has an upfront cost but requires little strategic consideration. While we want to support wide playstyles, the effectiveness gap between wide and tall play (fewer cities, more towns to support) was too large.
The Gold economy rarely challenges the player. New towns provide large amounts of Gold and pay for themselves quickly, while maintenance costs like Unit upkeep don’t often make more than a small dent in finances.
These problems are even more pronounced on higher difficulty levels, where players can exploit these stacking bonuses while the AI struggles to keep up.
Considering all this, our goal was to bring more of the game onto the map, and emphasize player decisions. We aim for Civ VII to be accessible at lower difficulties and challenging at higher difficulties, so we wanted to avoid changes that would negatively affect newer players.
So, what changed?
Off-map Yields and stacking percentages: we reviewed the entire game and removed almost every stacking percentage bonus. Leaders and civs retain their bonuses to increase their strategic impact. Where possible, we replaced percentages with numerical bonuses that are still meaningful, but don’t snowball uncontrollably. When you snowball, it should be because of smart decisions, not repeated 3% bonuses.
Buildings and City strategy: we added a new cost-progression mechanic for Buildings. Now, every non-Warehouse Building in a Settlement increases the cost of future non-Warehouse Buildings there. Buildings across your empire also cost more for every additional City other than your Capital. Base costs were adjusted, and most Buildings now provide higher base Yields.
Gold economy: we adjusted Unit maintenance costs in all Ages, and reduced base Production (and thus Gold) in Towns.
We also made adjustments to a number of Social Policies, Resources, City-State effects, Modern Tech costs, and civ abilities to better fit with this new paradigm. You can find the details on specific changes in the notes below.
This is just the first step in our ongoing effort to improve balance. We’re continuing to evaluate all Yields, Leader and Civ abilities, and opportunities to add new systems and tweaks that deepen strategic decision-making. This pass lays the foundation for much more significant systems and content to come. And Deity players, let us know if these changes cranked up the difficulty for you!
Napoleon, Revisited
We aim for every leader and civ to be fun and strategically viable – and Napoleon was needing some TLC in those departments. Napoleon is a beloved leader for long-time Civ fans, but feedback suggested his abilities weren’t living up to his popularity.
To remedy this, we revisited both Napoleon, Emperor and Napoleon, Revolutionary and gave them a big boost. His Emperor persona retains a focus on Sanctioning other leaders and gains more significant rewards the more leaders he targets. His Revolutionary persona keeps all of his previous military bonuses, and is further rewarded when you goad another leader into attacking you. You can find details on these new abilities below.
If you don’t have Napoleon yet, remember you can grab Napoleon, Emperor free just by making a 2K Account and linking it in-game.* And if you’ve linked both Civ VI and VII, you’ll also get Napoleon, Revolutionary at no extra cost.** Check out this page for full details!
Gameplay
New Map Types
(★ – Community Influenced) Continents and Islands
Added a new map type: Continents and Islands. This map type features a new map generation method to create large continents accompanied by natural islands. Continents and islands separated by Ocean tiles are considered Distant Lands.
(★) Pangaea and Islands
Added a new map type: Pangaea and Islands. This map type features a new map generated method to create a single large continent accompanied by natural islands. Islands separated by Ocean tiles are considered Distant Lands.
New City-States
Dev Note: The existing pool of Independent Powers has been rearranged to accommodate two new City-State types. Independent Powers that were previously a different type may have been updated to be Diplomatic or Expansionist now.
(★) New City-State Type: Diplomatic
Befriend Gift: +50/250/1000 Happiness towards your next Celebration.
Antiquity Bonuses
Festival Grounds: Allows the creation of the Festival Grounds Unique Improvement.
Effect: +1 Influence, +1 Happiness. Double base Yields during Celebrations. Must be built on an existing Improvement on Flat terrain adjacent to a District. One per Settlement.
Send Delegation: Gain the "Send Delegation" Endeavor.
When Accepted: Both Civs gain +4 Happiness per turn and you gain vision of their Capital for the duration.
When Supported: Both Civs gain +8 Happiness per turn and you both gain vision of each other's Capitals for the duration.
Vigiles Urbani: +2 Happiness on Happiness Buildings.
Amarna Letters: +20% Influence towards starting and supporting Endeavors and Sanctions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Scytale: +20% Influence towards starting Espionage Actions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of. They complete 25% faster.
Achara: +1 Social Policy Slot.
Gift Exchange: +1 Happiness on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
Exploration Bonuses
Minor Embassy: Allows the creation of the Minor Embassy Unique Improvement.
Effect:+2 Influence. +1 Influence for each Ally you have. Must be built on an existing improvement in a City. Only one per City.
Demand Tribute: Gain the "Demand Tribute" Sanction.
Sanction targets one Settlement with Treasure Resources. Inflicts -20 Gold per turn on the owner of that Settlement for the duration and on completion creates a Treasure Fleet worth 2 points.
Machi-Bugyō: +2 Happiness on Happiness Buildings.
Congress of Vienna: +20% Influence towards starting and supporting Endeavors and Sanctions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Kataskopoi: +20% Influence towards starting Espionage Actions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of. They complete 25% faster.
Gyeongguk Daejeon: +1 Social Policy Slot.
Market Cross: +1 Happiness on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
Modern Bonuses
Circus Fair: Allows the creation of the Circus Fair Unique Improvement.
Effect:+6 Happiness. +1 Influence when built in Cities. Must be built on an existing improvement in Settlements with at least 15 Population. One per Settlement.
Ideological Revolt: Gain the "Ideological Revolt" Espionage.
Targets one City of a civ with an Ideology. On completion, pillages up to four tiles in that City.
Fair Wages: +2 Happiness on Happiness Buildings.
Plenipotentiaries: +20% Influence towards starting and supporting Endeavors and Sanctions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Cabinet Noir: +20% Influence towards starting Espionage Actions for each Diplomatic City-State you are Suzerain of. They complete 25% faster.
Secret Ballot: +1 Social Policy Slot.
Public Infrastructure: +1 Happiness on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
(★) New City-State Type: Expansionist
Befriend Gift: 1 Migrant in the Capital.
Antiquity Bonuses
Yakhchāl: Allows the creation of the Yakhchāl Unique Improvement.
Effect: +2 Food.+1 Food on Farms in Desert in this Settlement. Must be built on an existing improvement in the Desert. Cannot be placed next to another Yakhchāl.
Aratrum: +1 Food on Resources.
Qanats: +4 Food on Food Buildings.
Fermentation: +1 Food in Settlements for each Expansionist City-State you are Suzerain of. Doubled in Towns.
Hōkūpaʻa: Receive a free Settler in your Capital.
Karum: +1 Settlement Limit.
Horreum: +1 Food on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
Exploration Bonuses
Saqiya: Allows the creation of the Saqiya Unique Improvement.
Effect: +4 Food. +1 Science if built in a Settlement following your Religion. Must be built on an existing Improvement on Floodplains.
Carruca: +1 Food on Resources.
Kuebiko: +4 Food on Food Buildings.
Gruit: +2 Food in Settlements for each Expansionist City-State you are Suzerain of. Doubled in Towns.
Hútòng: Receive a Population in your Capital when you become Suzerain of an Expansionist City-State, including this one.
Mappa Mundi: +1 Settlement Limit.
Igoudar: +1 Food on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
Modern Bonuses
Abattoir: Allows the creation of the Abattoir Unique Improvement.
Effect: +5 Food. +1 Food and -1 Happiness on each Abattoir in this Settlement. Must be built on an existing improvement with a Food Yield. Cannot be placed next to another Abattoir.
Balance Plough: +1 Food on Resources.
Four-Field Rotation: +4 Food on Food Buildings.
Zymurgy: +3 Food in Settlements for each Expansionist City-State you are Suzerain of. Doubled in Towns.
Diplomatic Immunity: Receive a Population in your Capital when you become Suzerain of an Expansionist City-State, including this one.
Annexation: +1 Settlement Limit.
Cold Chain: +1 Food on Warehouse Buildings (Shareable).
Updated City State Bonuses
Dev Note: We found City-State bonuses were too powerful and encouraged Suzeraining as many City-States as possible, over strategically choosing them based on bonuses. So, we made some balance adjustments: now, to stack bonuses, you need to Suzerain more of the same type of City-State. We also cut down on percentage bonuses, free Techs/Civics, and most Building Yield bonuses to make other gameplay decisions more important. The new Diplomatic and Expansionist City-States follow these rules, and leaders like Tecumseh, and civs like Greece and Siam, get a nice boost since they still count all City-States for their relevant effects.
For any changes beyond number tweaks or making effects scale off of types of City-States, we’ve included the previous version for reference.
Militaristic City-States
Flatbow (Antiquity) / Longbow (Exploration) / Artillery Master (Modern): +1 Combat Strength to Ranged and Siege Units for each Militaristic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Marca (Antiquity): +1 Combat Strength to Infantry Units for each Militaristic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Free Companies (Exploration) / United Front (Modern): +1 Combat Strength to Infantry and Naval Units for each Militaristic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Cultural City-States
Arch (Antiquity): +5% Production towards Wonders for every Cultural City-State you are Suzerain of.
Monumental Architecture (Antiquity) / Suai (Exploration) / Monthon (Modern): +2 Culture on Culture Buildings
Dev Note: We considered letting these Building Yield bonuses stack based on City-State type, but found that Urban Center Towns became too powerful when this bonus got stacked, especially in early Ages.
Shrines to the Jinn (Antiquity) / Church Hierarchy (Exploration) / Ethnology (Modern): Receive a free Civic. (Previously: Church Hierarchy: +20% Production towards constructing Temples for every City-State you are Suzerain of; Ethnology: +20% Production towards constructing the Museum for every City-State you are Suzerain of.)
Dev Note: While a beloved bonus, the free Techs and Civics provided by this type of bonus had too much of an impact on the game’s pace. As a silver lining, these bonuses can now grant any unlocked Tech or Civic, not always your cheapest available one!
Philatory (Exploration): +1 Culture on Temples in Cities for each Cultural City-State you are Suzerain of. Receive 1 Relic.
Antiquarianism (Modern): +2 Culture on Museums for each Cultural City-State you are Suzerain of. Receive 1 Artifact.
Dev Note: For our City-State effects that give Cultural Great Works, we found the bonus was rarely chosen compared to other effects. We've now buffed these to keep them in line with the rest of the City-State bonuses.
Economic City-States
Freeholders (Antiquity): +1 Gold on active Trade Routes for each Economic City-State you are Suzerain of. (Previously: +5% Gold for every City-State you are Suzerain of.)
Dev Note: Our Gold Economy was already generous, so the old stacking City-State bonus has been removed. Across all Ages, it’s been replaced with a more fitting boost for empires that focus on trade and economic strategies.
Tampos (Antiquity): +5 Trade Route Range for each Economic City-State you are Suzerain of.
Mensarii (Antiquity) / Gbara (Exploration) / Kolkhoz (Modern): +4 Gold on Gold Buildings.
Territorial Claims (Exploration): +2 Gold for each active Trade Route for each Economic City-State you are Suzerain of. (Previously: +5% Gold for every City-State you are Suzerain of.)
Guosuo (Exploration): +10 Trade Route Range for each Economic City-State you are Suzurain of.
Branch Office (Modern): +3 Gold for each active Trade Route for each Economic City-State you are Suzerain of. (Previously: +5% Gold for every City-State you are Suzerain of.)
Shipping Lanes (Modern): You can start a Trade Route at any distance.
Scientific City-States
Philosopher’s Circle (Antiquity) / Free Inquiry (Exploration) / Artisan's League (Modern): +2 Science on Science Buildings.
Pilgrimage (Antiquity) / Reichskreise (Exploration) / Anthropology (Modern): Receive a Free Tech.
Garden of Wonders (Antiquity) / Natural Law (Exploration) / Scholarly Network (Modern): +5% Production towards constructing Buildings for each Scientific City-State you are Suzerain of. (Previously: Garden of Wonders: +20% Production towards constructing Science Buildings for every City-State you are Suzerain of; Natural Law, Scholarly Network: +5% Science for every City-State you are Suzerain of.)
Dev Note: With our new change to Building costs, we wanted to make sure there were a few ways to interact with it. Science gameplay is all about maximizing the value of your Buildings, so it felt like the right place to help players start to manage the cost of a growing City.
Strategic Balance Pass
Rebalanced Attribute Trees: Stacking bonuses on the Attribute Tree were the biggest culprit behind ballooning Yield numbers in later Ages of the game. However, we still like the gameplay of building out your Leader’s Attributes over the course of a full campaign. All direct percentage bonuses to Yields have been removed from the Attribute Trees and replaced with reasonable (but still powerful) static bonuses.
Culture Tree
Changed node 4 to +5 Culture per Age in Cities with at least 1 Wonder. (Previously: +10% Culture in Cities with at least 1 Wonder.)
Changed node 8 to +10 Culture per Age for every Alliance you have. (Previously: +10% Culture for every Alliance you have.)
Changed node 10 to +5 Culture per Age. Repeatable. (Previously: +5% total Culture. Repeatable.)
Diplomatic Tree
Changed node 10 to +3 Influence per Age and +5 Happiness per Age. Repeatable. (Previously: +3% towards all Yields for every Alliance you have. Repeatable.)
Dev Note: This node was the biggest offender, and had to be redesigned completely.
Economic Tree
Changed node 8 to +10 Gold per Age for every Alliance you have. (Previously: +10% Gold for every Alliance you have.)
Changed node 10 to +5 Gold per Age. Repeatable. (Previously: +5% total Gold. Repeatable.)
Scientific Tree
Changed node 8 to +10 Science per Age for every Alliance you have. (Previously: +10% Science for every Alliance you have.)
Changed node 10 to +5 Science per Age. Repeatable. (Previously: +5% total Science. Repeatable.)
Rebalanced Buildings
Building Cost Progression: All Building costs now scale with the number of other Buildings in that Settlement, and Cities in your Empire.
The cost to produce and purchase a Building increases by 5% for each non-Warehouse Building in that Settlement.
The cost to produce and purchase a Building increases by 10% for each City other than your Capital in your Empire.
Building Cost and Yield Changes
Dev Note: To encourage better pacing and more strategic planning around constructing and overbuilding Buildings, we’ve adjusted costs and base Yields across all Ages. The biggest changes are in Exploration and Modern – Buildings now provide more Yield. We’ve also designated one Building per Age to focus primarily on Influence, giving it a higher Influence output than before. This is mostly a shift in how we think about these Buildings and will serve as a foundation for future content. We have not changed the types of Buildings in this update.
Antiquity
Tier 1 Buildings (Altar, Monument, Library, Barracks, Garden, and Market) have a base cost of 90 Production and provide 3 base Yield of their type.
Tier 2 Buildings (Arena, Amphitheater, Academy, Blacksmith, Baths, and Lighthouse) now have a base cost of 180 Production and provide 4 base Yield of their type.
The Villa is now primarily considered a Tier 2 Influence Building, and provides 3 Influence and 3 Happiness.
Civ Unique Buildings now have a base cost of 135 Production and give 3 base Yield of their type. The exception is Carthage’s Unique Buildings, which provide 2 base Yield of their type to balance their availability in Towns.
Exploration
Tier 1 Buildings (Temple, Kiln, Observatory, Dungeon, Inn, Bazaar, and Wharf) now have a base cost of 200 Production and provide 6 base Yield of their type.
Tier 2 Buildings (Menagerie, Pavilion, University, Armorer, Hospital, Bank, and Shipyard) now have a base cost of 380 Production and provide 8 base Yield of their type.
The Guildhall is now primarily considered a Tier 2 Influence Building, and provides 6 Influence and 6 Gold.
Civ Unique Buildings now have a base cost of 290 Production and give 6 base Yield of their type.
Modern
Warehouse Buildings now have a base cost of 535 Production.
Tier 1 Buildings (City Park, Museum, Schoolhouse, Military Academy, Cannery, and Port) now have a base cost of 420 Production and provide 9 base Yield of their type.
Tier 2 Buildings (Department Store, Opera House, Laboratory, Factory, Tenement, and Stock Exchange) now have a base cost of 780 Production and provide 12 base Yield of their type.
The Radio Station is now primarily considered a Tier 2 Influence Building, and provides 9 Influence and 9 Happiness.
Full Tile Buildings have double the base cost of Buildings of their Tier and often provide double the base Yield.
The Aerodrome (Tier 1) now costs 840 Production and provides a base Yield of only 9 Production. It retains all of its functionality as an Air Commander.
The Rail Station (Tier 1) now costs 840 Production and provides a base Yield of 18 Gold.
The Launch pad (Tier 2) now costs 1560 Production and provides a base Yield of 24 Science.
Civ Unique Buildings now have a base cost of 600 Production and give 9 base Yield of their type.
Unit Maintenance: Military Unit base maintenance costs have been adjusted across all Ages. Maintenance cost scaling per Unit tier has been updated across all Ages. Base maintenance costs based on what tier of Unit is first available in each Age are listed below.
Antiquity: Maintenance costs increase by 1 Gold per Tier of the unit.
Infantry: Tier 1 Units: 0 Gold per turn.
Ranged: Tier 1 Units: 0 Gold per turn.
Siege: Tier 2 Units: 2 Gold per turn.
Cavalry: Tier 2 Units: 3 Gold per turn.
Naval: Tier 2 Units: 2 Gold per turn.
Exploration: Maintenance costs increase by 2 Gold per Tier of the unit.
Infantry: Tier 1 Units: 2 Gold per turn.
Ranged: Tier 1 Units: 2 Gold per turn.
Siege: Tier 1 Units: 4 Gold per turn.
Cavalry: Tier 1 Units: 6 Gold per turn.
Naval: Tier 1 Units: 6 Gold per turn.
Modern: Maintenance costs increase by 3 Gold per Tier of the unit.
Infantry: Tier 1 Units: 3 Gold per turn.
Ranged: Tier 1 Units: 3 Gold per turn.
Siege: Tier 1 Units: 6 Gold per turn.
Cavalry: Tier 1 Units: 9 Gold per turn.
Light Naval: Tier 1 Units: 6 Gold per turn.
Heavy Naval: Tier 1 Units: 9 Gold per turn.
Anti-Air Aircraft: Tier 2 Units: 9 Gold per turn.
Anti-Ground Aircraft: Tier 2 Units: 12 Gold per turn.
Bomber Aircraft: Tier 2 Units: 15 Gold per turn.
Civ Unique Units have had their maintenance costs adjusted to match the relevant type of Unit in their Age. Some Civ Unique Units, like the Medjay and Hussar, have reduced maintenance costs as part of their design.
Towns Rebalance
City Halls in Towns no longer have a base Production Yield. On conversion to a City, City Halls gain 3 Production per Age. (Previously: City Halls in Towns would provide 3 Production per Age.)
The “Convert Town into City” popup has been updated to tell the player that a City has increased Production and warn about the increased cost of Buildings across the empire when converted.
Social Policies Rebalance
Dev Note: As part of our balance pass, we tweaked some of our Social Policies. For any Social Policies that we felt needed a more significant change or full redesign, we plan to make those changes in the future.
Antiquity
Castes: +2 Food in all Settlements.
Dev Note: This change was part of our pass to remove percentage bonuses that were too impactful. We wanted to keep the Food effect, so we stole the effect of Clan Networks.
Clan Networks: +20% Growth Rate in Towns with a Growing Focus.
Dev Note: With Castes taking Clan Networks’ effect, we redesigned this to be more effective in the early-game scramble to settle new Towns.
Drama and Poetry: +2 Culture on Culture Buildings. +20% Production towards Culture Buildings.
Literature: +2 Science on Science Buildings. +20% Production towards Science Buildings.
Dev Note: Neither of the above two bonuses were very appealing before, and with our changes to Building costs, these bonuses became impactful while still not looking appealing. We updated them as a reward for players that make buildings of a specific type, while being less of an enabler than before.
Exploration
Chivalry: +30% Production towards Cavalry Units.
Regulars: +30% Production towards Infantry and Ranged Units.
Dev Note: Without percentage bonuses, efficiency effects like these become more powerful. In our early pass on percentage efficiencies, these were good candidates for getting reigned in. Generally, we plan to let efficiency bonuses greater than 30% be the output of Leaders, Civs, and Age-unique gameplay.
Resources Rebalance
Dev Note: We’re hesitant to change Resources, as they reflect the type of “on-map” bonus that we think is healthy for the game. However, a handful of Empire Resources were having too much of an impact on the Gold, Production, and Culture economies of the game and needed adjustment. Where possible, we removed percentage effects and replaced them with static bonuses that reflect the intent of their original design.
Gold and Silver had the biggest impact on our Gold economy throughout the Ages. They are reasonable in Antiquity, but by mid-Exploration, it’s easy enough to get 5 or more Gold and Silver, giving the player a 50+% discount on all Buildings and Units. With Gold already being abundant, this made the late game Gold economy too generous for all players, and reduced the value of Production. These effects also reduced the impact of our Building cost and Unit Maintenance changes, so we’ve redesigned them.
Antiquity
Gold: +1 Gold and Happiness in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing Buildings.)
Silver: +1 Gold and Food in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing and upgrading Units.)
Wine: +2 Happiness in the Capital, and +5 Culture when in a Celebration.(Previously: +2 Happiness, and +10% Culture when in a Celebration.)
Hardwood: +10% Production towards Naval Units.(Previously: +20%)
Dev Note: With the Continuity setting letting you keep Naval Units after Antiquity, we felt this could use a small nerf.
Jade: +10% Gold in this Settlement. (Previously: +15%)
Dev Note: The new Gold and Silver effects are still quite strong, so we reduced the effect of local Gold bonuses to keep things in line.
Exploration
Gold: +1 Gold and Happiness in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing Buildings.)
Silver: +1 Gold and Food in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing and upgrading Units.)
Wine: +3 Happiness in the Capital, and +10 Culture when in a Celebration.(Previously: +3 Happiness, and +10% Culture when in a Celebration.)
Furs: +3 Happiness in the Capital, and +10 Gold when in a Celebration. (Previously: +3 Happiness, and +10% Gold when in a Celebration.)
Dev Note: Gold, Silver, and Furs are still Treasure Resources in Exploration.
Modern
Gold: +1 Gold and Happiness in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing Buildings.)
Silver: +1 Gold and Food in all Settlements. (Previously: +20% Gold towards purchasing and upgrading Units.)
Victory Pacing
Dev Note: With these changes to Yield economies and game pace, we made some adjustments to the pacing of certain Victories in the Modern Age to keep them balanced and competitive.
Cultural Victory
Decreased Explorer Movement from 3 to 2.
Dev Note: We don’t like to reduce movement of Units because it can artificially extend games. However, our changes to other Victories slowed things down enough that Culture Victories were being achieved too quickly with just a few Explorers. Now, if players want to rush this Victory, they have to invest in more Explorer Units.
Reduced the number of overall Artifacts available in Modern on Large/Huge maps, and also increased the number of overbuild sites for all map sizes to better pace the Cultural Victory.
Scientific Victory
Several Modern Age Tech costs have been reduced (all values are base costs at Standard speed).
Dev Note: The removal of stacking percentage and free Tech bonuses had the largest impact on the Scientific Victory. We found in testing that it slowed down this Victory more than we wanted, so we adjusted the cost of late-game Techs to compensate.Radio: Reduced from 3400 to 3000
Flight: Reduced from 3400 to 3000
Mass Production: Reduced from 3400 to 3000
Mobilization: Reduced from 4925 to 4000
Armor: Reduced from 4925 to 4000
Aerodynamics: Reduced from 7450 to 6000
Rocketry: Reduced from 9475 to 8500
Nuclear Fission: Reduced from 9475 to 8500
Economic Victory
Dev Note: The costs of the Factory, Rail Station, and Port Buildings have been reduced as part of our pass on Buildings (see above). This should speed up the Economic Victory to better be competitive with the other Victories.
Advanced Options
Advanced options have now been added to Multiplayer.
Custom difficulty options are now always shown in the Advanced Options screen.
When changing the 'Main' difficulty setting, all custom settings are updated to match.
When changing any of the 'Custom' difficulty settings, the 'Main' difficulty setting is updated to be 'Custom'.
AI
AI will no longer avoid rejecting a Denounce Sanction when Players send an overwhelming Military force towards them.
AI no longer fails to add additional Influence towards the Befriend Independent Action when the player takes the lead of the Action.
Walls from previous Ages are now properly removed when AI leaders overbuild new walls on a tile during Exploration or Modern.
The AI gives greater weighting to the Population of offered cities in peace deals.
(★) AI will no longer pick the first available pantheon when they unlock Mysticism and will instead pick one that is most beneficial.
AI no longer bypasses Government Celebration limitations and chooses the same one when entering a Celebration.
AI will now prioritize attacking vulnerable/weaker Units when initiating in combat.
Age Transition
(★) In Regroup mode, Units will prefer to remain packed in the Commander they were in before transition instead of being taken out to become Settlement defenders.
Snow will no longer be missing on Tundra Tiles when transitioning to the next Age.
Updated the Lyceums Legacy Card to include “+3 Science Yield on all Quarters”.
Diplomacy
Removed redundant “City-State” text in Diplomacy actions with City States.
Environment
The Hillfort Unique Improvement can no longer be placed on any improved Rural tile when producing or purchasing.
Unique Improvement Adjacency Placement Restrictions can no longer be bypassed when players add multiple Unique Improvements to a Production Queue at once.
The Opera House is now properly listed as a Diplomatic Building.
Improvements now consider items in the build queue when checking the same type adjacent requirements.
Economy
Incense Production Boost no longer applies to all Units when slotting the Resource.
The Tenement, Stock Exchange, and Laboratory no longer stack their bonuses to Quarters when built in different Settlements.
City Parks no longer stack their +1 Happiness to Vegetated tiles bonus when built in different Settlements.
The Cannery building now properly gives +10% Growth Rate to a Settlement when fully completed.
Hermitage Ability “+5 Culture in Cities that have a Great Work on display” is no longer providing the wrong amount of Culture.
The Farm will no longer receive 2 Food when placing the warehouse building Grocer.
Mountain terrain Natural Wonders tiles no longer fail to gain +1 Happiness when the player unlocks the Mit’a mastery civic as the Inca.
Mountain terrain Natural Wonders no longer fail to gain the +2 food and +1 production bonuses when worked from the Inca Civ passive “Apus”.
Miscellaneous
Improved stability when resyncing players during a multiplayer game.
Addressed a reported graphical issue where water levels in lakes would be too low or missing entirely when exploring the map.
Added support for Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) 2.
Military
Naval Focus Fire now works properly with Naval Ranged Attacks.
Units can no longer take damage multiple times in a single turn from Ocean damage while on an Ocean tile.
Tankwa is now properly faster than Caravan when creating a Trade Route as Aksum.
Jaguar Trap's tile restrictions no longer fail to appear on the ability's tooltip and Unit description.
"Lac Rebellion's" effect description now properly mentions that the enemy Units should be around Trung Nhi.
Move By Rail action now properly reminds the player that it requires the Capital to have a Rail Station when attempting to use it.
Focus Fire no longer queues movement after attacking on Ranged Units.
Ranged Units no longer move instead of attack when directed at an undefended fortified District with the Focus Fire ability.
Turn Advancer remains as “Next Turn” when moving any Unit but having remaining movement with option “Unit Cycle Remaining Movement” enabled.
Leaders & Civs
Leaders
(★) Napoleon, Emperor
New (Continental System – Economic, Diplomatic):
All basic Sanctions are automatically unlocked.
+50% Influence towards initiating Sanctions.
+5 Culture and Gold per Age for each leader you have an active Sanction on, except Denouncement.
+1 Combat Strength for Land Units for every Sanction you have active, except Denouncement.
Previous (Empereur des Francais – Economic, Diplomatic):
Gain a unique Sanction called Continental System that reduces the Trade Route limit of the targeted Leader to all other Leaders by 1. Causes a massive Relationship penalty, and costs more to reject.
+8 Gold per Age for every Leader you are Unfriendly or Hostile with.
Can reject Endeavors for free.
Dev Note: The Continental System Sanction didn’t have the appeal or impact it needed on Napoleon’s diplomatic gameplay, so we elected to give Napoleon more options instead. Paired with this, we leaned into your active Sanctions instead of relationship, to let crafty Napoleon players gain bonuses from Sanctions while still maintaining some friends.
(★) Napoleon, Revolutionary
New (Enemy of the Coalitions – Militaristic, Cultural):
+1 Movement for all Land Units.
Defeating an enemy Unit provides Culture equal to 100% of its Combat Strength.
The first time each Age that a war is declared against you, gain an Army Commander in your Capital packed with 1 Infantry Unit, 1 Cavalry Unit, 1 Ranged Unit, and 1 Siege Unit, even if those Units have not been unlocked.
Previously (La Grande Armee – Militaristic, Cultural):
+1 Movement for all Land Units.
Defeating an enemy Unit provides Culture equal to 50% of its Combat Strength.
Dev Note: This Napoleon needed less of a redesign, but data and feedback indicated he could still use a buff to support being a warmonger and enemy of the world.
Catherine the Great
“Buildings with Great Work slots gain 1 additional slot.” ability has been updated to also affect Wonders.
Civs
Dev Note: With our balance changes we wanted to make sure that leader and civ choice mattered more during gameplay. As we tested, we realized that the Abbasids were punching way above their weight across many of their effects. Additionally, the limiting factor of “8 Urban Population” wasn’t enough of a gate to the full force of their abilities.
Abbasid
Round City Unique Civic: +20% Production towards constructing Buildings in Cities with at least 5 Specialists. (Previously: +50% Production towards constructing Buildings in Cities with at least 8 Urban Population.)
Al-Jabr Unique Civic: +10% Science in Cities with at least 5 Specialists. (Previously: +15% Science in Cities with at least 8 Urban Population.)
Compendious Book Tradition: +2 Science and +2 Happiness in Towns. (Previously: +4 Science in Towns.)
Sales and Trade Tradition: +1 Gold and Science for each Resource assigned to Cities with at least 5 Specialists. (Previously: +3 Gold and Science for each Resource assigned to Cities with at least 8 Urban Population.)
UI
(★) Settlement Management
Dev Note: We’ve updated the UI for the Settlement Production Menu, Building Placement, and Growth Events. The goal of these changes is to bring more information and clarity of impact at these decision points. For a deeper dive, check out our latest From the Devs article here.
The Production Menu now shows a constructible’s Base Yield, Warehouse Improvements, and/or its Highest Adjacency count by default. The previous ‘Yield preview’ presentation is available in the Game options.
Updated styling and formatting on constructible tooltips in the Production Menu, including Tags.
Building Placement and Growth Events now highlights net Yield changes, supported by a detailed view offering a full breakdown. Yield losses from replacing or overbuilding are now previewed on the map.
Dev note: Not every modifier is fully reflected just yet, but we’re on it; our goal is to make these Yield previews as accurate as possible.
Added new Yield indicators (green up and red down arrows) to clearly show gains and losses at a glance.
Redesigned building slot icon for improved legibility.
Added a detailed view including a full before/after breakdown of the previewed change, when highlighting a valid tile.
Added green Yield numbers on tiles with the highest net Yields or highest primary Yield to highlight tiles for consideration.
Pause Menu
We’ve updated our Pause Menu design and added new functionality:
Add-ons (DLC and Mods) enabled for your current game are now displayed.
Added copy to clipboard functionality for the game’s Map Seed.
Read-only access to your current game’s Advanced Options setup.
Alignment & Spacing
The Age Progress menu will now function properly at all game resolutions.
The Government menu will now function properly at all game resolutions.
Civilopedia
Jaguar Trap's tile restriction no longer fails to appear on the Jaguar Slayer's Civilopedia entry.
The resort town focus has been added to the Towns entry in the Civilopedia.
Controller-Specific
The LT/L2 button prompt is missing when switching to the AI leader's Diplomacy menu while the player's leader is shown in the leader portraits.
The tooltip of tiles will no longer show when opening the Religion menu on the controller.
The button prompt is now removed when the Journal panel is locked in the Antiquity Age.
Controller no longer loses functionality when opening the leader ribbon and a popup notification at the same time.
A non-functional Choose Mementos button no longer appears when opening the Social menu in a multiplayer lobby.
The player is no longer able to switch to an unmet leader's Diplomacy menu when they press the RT/R2/ZR button in the Diplomacy menu.
General
The game will no longer get stuck on a “Please Wait” screen when opening the Civilopedia with F9 during an Age Transition or when retiring from a game.
The Diplomacy menu will no longer incorrectly show a "-1 Influence to Befriend" cost if the player has met an Independent Power but has not found their village yet.
Addressed a reported issue that caused significant slowdown when opening or switching to the Settler and Trade lenses in the Antiquity Age.
Addressed a reported issue causing input delay when selecting an action during an 8-player multiplayer match.
Dropdown menus will now function correctly when scrolling with touch or by dragging with the mouse.
Research cost no longer fails to update when changing the game speed from standard.
On touch screens, tap-to-select hex tiles on the map now function properly with touch.
Unique Improvements no longer visually appear available for purchase when one is currently being produced while in the City's Production Purchase Panel.
The Science tree now appears consistently across all leaders when viewing it in the Leader Attribute menu.
Addressed a reported issue where a damaged district health bar and civilization icon would disappear when the player captured a district on the same Settlement.
Improved the resolution of various icons and portraits.
Notifications
Added a scroll bar to the Notifications menu to handle multiple notifications.
Removed non-functional RB/R1/R button during tutorial before founding the first city.
Mountain Natural Wonders revealed by Mount Everest's effect no longer fail to display discovered notification.
Text Changes
The description of Iguazu Falls Natural Wonder is now consistent with its effect.
The description of Manhattan Project now properly states the Wonder can be built by all players.
The Age Length advanced option now explains how much the Long and Abbreviated options adjust the Age progress limit.
Leader introduction subtitles no longer fail to disappear once leaders finish speaking when starting a new game.
Made various text changes and improvements.
Tooltips
Improved the Auto-explore tooltip to be more informative for players.
The "Distant Land Treasure Resources" icon will now correctly appear instead of the "Homeland Treasure Resource" icon in the City detail tooltip within the Trade Route menu.
Relationship status now properly updates on the tooltip when entering a war against a friendly City-State.
Information for Specialists and Buildings on City tiles will now update correctly.
Audio
Made several quality-of-life and UI improvements for in-game audio.
Updated Pause Menu SFX.
Made several updates to the overall game audio mix, including environment, Independent Powers, and main menu sounds.
Added SFX for Multiplayer Turn Timer.
Added SFX for Repair All.
Added several SFX for City-States, including the City-State Minor Embassy, Circus, Festival Grounds, Abattoir, Ice House, and Saqiya Improvements.
Added SFX and music for Qajar.
Added SFX and music for Eram Garden reveal.
Addressed several reported audio issues.
Platform-Specific
Steam, Steam Deck
The Next button is no longer missing when starting in Antiquity and viewing the Tutorial menu.
Content Collection
Right to Rule Collection*** – Part Two
Update 1.2.5 also brings the second and final part of Right to Rule, featuring leader Lakshmibai and the civs Silla and Qajar.
Leaders
(Right to Rule DLC***) Added new leader Lakshmibai.
The Rani of Jhansi, the queen of a state that challenged the might of the British, Lakshmibai became an emblem of courage and resistance. Flouting norms, Lakshmibai picked up fencing and shooting at a young age, and when the British attempted to establish direct rule, Lakshmibai held Jhansi against repeated incursions. She remains a symbol of defiance today.
Attributes: Diplomatic, Militaristic
Unique Ability – Rani of Jhansi: Increased Influence towards initiating the City-State – Incorporate Action. Gain control of all the City-State's Units when performing the Incorporate Action. When one of your Land Military Units defeats an enemy Unit, gain Influence equal to a percentage of its Combat Strength.
Agenda – Eternal Glory: Increase Relationship by a Medium Amount with the leader that has the lowest Influence per turn. Decrease Relationship by Medium Amount with the leader that has the highest Influence per turn.
Civilizations
(Right to Rule DLC***) Added a new Antiquity Age civilization Silla.
The three kingdoms of ancient Korea – Silla among them – vied for dominance of the Korean peninsula for centuries. The states would sometimes ally with one another, as well as with Japan and China, to stay in power, but Silla finally unified the peninsula in the seventh century CE. An era of architectural brilliance followed, and it was three hundred years before the Goryeo kingdom could issue a successful challenge to Silla's supremacy.
Attributes: Economic, Diplomatic
Unique Ability – Maripgan: Receive increased Culture on Resources.
Unique Civilian Unit – Sangdaedeung: Unique Merchant Unit. When you create a Trade Route to another Settlement, receive a set amount of Gold based on your Relationship Level (effect scales based on game speed).
Unique Military Unit – Hwarang: Unique Ranged Unit. Increased Movement and increased Attack Range. Counts as a Calvary Unit. Has increased Bombard Strength relative to the Unit it replaces.
Associated Wonder: Emile Bell
(Right to Rule DLC***) Added a new Modern Age civilization Qajar.
Out of the chaos of the eighteenth century, the Qajars emerged to lead Iran into modernity. Their tenure oversaw the growth of cities, the construction of grand palaces, and an artistic renaissance merging old and new mediums. Amid a rapidly globalizing world, the Qajars played a furious game of diplomacy with European powers that delayed critical growth. Yet major reforms transformed the nation's identity, giving rise to a new Iran.
Attributes: Diplomatic, Expansionist
Unique Ability – Kayānī Crown: Increased Influence toward Supporting Diplomatic Actions.
Unique Civilian Unit – Sardār: Unique Commander Unit. Increased Movement. Raze a set number of additional Districts per turn in Settlements with this Commander.
Unique Military Unit – Gholām: Unique Cavalry Unit. Increased Combat Strength and HP healing in Command Radius of a Sardār Unique Civilian Unit.
Associated Wonder: Eram Garden
*Requires an internet connection, and a 2K Account linked to the platform account used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
**Requires an internet connection, and the same 2K Account linked to the platform account(s) used to play Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Sid Meier's Civilization VII. 2K Accounts are free. One per 2K Account. Reward will be automatically delivered in-game. Void where prohibited. Terms apply.
***Right to Rule Collection is included in the Founders Edition of Civilization VII. It is also available for separate purchase (base game required). Terms apply.
Changed files in this update