Civilization 7 in development, 2K Games and Firaxis announce

The next Civilization is in development at Firaxis Games, the studio’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, confirmed in a statement on Friday. Although no release date nor window were given, this news is six years since the launch of Civilization. Civilization 6It is a crucial and profitable success on five platforms.

Take-Two and 2K Games announced the development in a news release also promoting Heather Hazen to Firaxis’ studio head, while also announcing the departure of longtime developer Jake Solomon. Formerly, Hazen was Firaxis Games’ chief operating officer.

“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy, beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise,” Hazen said in the statement.

Hazen continued, “I’m lucky to be working with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the CivilizationFranchise to new heights for millions of players all over the globe We will also continue to provide support Marvel’s Midnight Suns with post-launch content, and explore new creative projects for our teams.”

Firaxis’ Marvel’s Midnight SunsAccording to Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two, the launch was met with positive reviews in December but failed to perform commercially.

Sid Meier, Microprose, started the Civilization franchise more than 30 year ago. It was most recently launched Civilization 6 In the autumn of 2016. Two major expansions were released to the game (Rise and Fall Gathering Storm) and additional post-launch downloadable content, the last of which released in November. Civilization 6 Take-Two stated that the company has sold over 65 million copies.

Take-Two’s statement said that Ed Beach would continue as creative director for the next Civilization. Beach directed Civilization 6 and was a designer on 2010’s Civilization 5.