"Strauss Zelnick 'Thrilled' with Civilization 7 Despite High Play Rates of Civ 6 and 5 on Steam"

The launch of Civilization 7 on Steam has been challenging, to say the least. Since its release in February, the strategy sequel has struggled to attract players on Valve's platform, with user reviews indicating a 'mixed' reception. Despite numerous patches from developer Firaxis aimed at improving the game, Civilization 7 currently has fewer players on Steam than both Civilization 6 and the 15-year-old Civilization 5.

While the game's performance on Steam is concerning, it's worth noting that Civilization 7 also launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. An upcoming version for the Nintendo Switch 2, featuring new Joy-Con mouse controls, is set to release soon. However, given that the Civilization series thrives on PC, the struggles on Steam are particularly notable.

In an interview with IGN ahead of Take-Two's latest financial results, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed his satisfaction with Civilization 7. "I'm thrilled with Civ 7 so far," Zelnick stated. "However, there were some issues initially, and our team at Firaxis has done a great job addressing those issues. There's more work to be done. I'm optimistic that work will be done and will suit consumers, and ultimately that we have a very successful title on our hands."

Zelnick highlighted the franchise's history of long sales cycles and his confidence that Civilization 7 will follow the same pattern. "The history of all the Civilization releases is that initially some of the changes that we make cause consternation among our consumers because they love the Civilization franchise so much," he explained. "And then people realize, oh, this really is an improvement and over a long sales cycle, we do really well. I think that's what'll happen here too. But undoubtedly, we had some issues in the beginning, which we've addressed partially and continue to address."

At launch, players pointed out several issues with Civilization 7, including problems with the user interface, a lack of map variety, and missing features that fans expected from the series. Zelnick's comments on the initial nervousness of hardcore Civ players likely refer to the significant changes Firaxis implemented, such as the new Age Transition system. In Civilization 7, a full campaign spans three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. During an Age Transition, players select a new civilization for their empire, choose which Legacies to retain, and witness the evolution of the game world—a feature unprecedented in previous Civilization games. Zelnick believes that fans will grow to appreciate this innovation over time.

Although Take-Two has not yet disclosed sales figures for Civilization 7, the company's financial report mentioned efforts to expand the game's audience. This includes the recent release of Civilization 7 VR for Meta Quest 3 and 3S, as well as the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 port.