Civilization 7’s Failures Rest On Take-Two CEO, He Says
Civilization 7, released in February 2025, has struggled commercially and critically following its controversial redesign of the 35-year-old strategy series. The game introduced a significant structural change: an “Ages” system that requires players to switch to different civilizations during gameplay, replacing the traditional mechanic of selecting and maintaining one civilization throughout a campaign.
The design shift failed to resonate with players. The game maintains a 50/50 positive-to-negative split on Steam, with average concurrent player counts around 6,000 per day—substantially lower than both Civilization 5 (~16,000 concurrent players) and Civilization 6 (~38,000). Overall engagement lags behind previous entries in the series, despite strong initial performance in the US market.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has acknowledged the misstep, stating the company “got it wrong” and that “what we tried to do was a bridge too far” with the redesign. He emphasized, however, that Civilization 7 remains “a profitable enterprise” despite its reception troubles. In response to criticism, Take-Two has announced a major update that will overhaul the controversial Ages system, signaling a commitment to address player feedback and improve the game’s standing.