"Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick Excited About Civilization 7 Despite High Play Rates of Civ 6 and 5 on Steam"

The launch of Civilization 7 on Steam has been rocky, to say the least. Since its debut in February, the strategy game has struggled to attract players on Valve's platform, garnering 'mixed' reviews from Steam users. Despite multiple patches from developer Firaxis aimed at improving the game, Civilization 7 finds itself with fewer players on Steam than its predecessors, Civilization 6 and the 15-year-old Civilization 5.

While the performance on Steam is a significant concern, it's important to note that Civilization 7 also launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, with a forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2 version that will utilize the new Joy-Con mouse controls. However, the PC platform remains the core audience for the Civilization series, where Civ 7 is clearly underperforming.

In an interview with IGN ahead of Take-Two's latest financial results, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed his enthusiasm for 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 Civilization franchise's history of having a long sales cycle, suggesting that Civ 7 will follow a similar trajectory. "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 voiced concerns about the user interface, a lack of map variety, and the absence of expected features. Zelnick's comments about the initial nervousness among hardcore Civ players likely refer to the significant changes Firaxis implemented, such as the new Age system. In Civilization 7, a full campaign spans three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Each Age Transition involves selecting a new civilization, choosing which Legacies to retain, and watching the game world evolve—a feature unprecedented in previous Civilization games. Zelnick is confident that fans will grow to appreciate this innovation over time.

Take-Two has not disclosed specific sales figures for Civilization 7, but in its financial report, the company 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 port for the Nintendo Switch 2.