Firaxis Games and 2K are releasing Sid Meier's Civilization VII on February 11, 2025 and now we know what power you're going to need to run it on Linux Desktop systems. It will have a supported Native Linux version, as covered here on GamingOnLinux previously.
Older games in the series had Aspyr Media responsible for the Linux and macOS versions, but it looks like this is an internal build this time as Aspyr have not been mentioned anywhere. Nice to see a day-1 supported release of such a major game — not something you see too often now with the rise of Proton running games so well.
Here's the specifications needed for Civilization VII on Linux
MINIMUM:
OS: Ubuntu 22.04
Processor: Intel i5-4690 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD RX 580
Storage: 25 GB available space
RECCOMENDED:
OS: Ubuntu 24.04
Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD RX 6700
Storage: 25 GB available space
Those actually seem like some pretty reasonable minimum requirements, and compared with a lot of bigger well-known games, not much storage space being taken up by it either.
A week ago they also revealed the opening cinematic:
Direct Link
Will you be picking up Civilization VII? I know I'll be diving in.
The main release is February 11th, but they're also doing Advanced Access on February 6th for people who buy the more expensive game editions.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
But I am very disappointed that it does require a dedicated GPU, which the previous Civ games did not. This is a franchise that always appealed to a broader audience, with more casual players, and even a modest GPU requirement is going to exclude lots of systems. It might seem reasonable from the perspective of gamers that need a stronger GPU for other games, but it is a huge leap from the perspective of someone that never needed a GPU for Civ.
And like, with the viewpoint and the gameplay, the extra fidelity really doesn't matter. We mostly see stuff from far away, tiny things that should prioritize clarity over detail.
Mountain Man 21 Dec 2024
walther von stolzing 21 Dec 2024
Philadelphus 21 Dec 2024
Edit: Yeah, I see there's more info on the mandated enshittification:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/6463/post_id=44362
Last edited by Phlebiac on 21 Dec 2024 at 11:44 pm UTC
Mountain Man 22 Dec 2024
wintermute 22 Dec 2024
Older games in the series had Aspyr Media responsible for the Linux and macOS versions, but it looks like this is an internal build this time as Aspyr have not been mentioned anywhere.
I genuinely wonder to what extend Aspyr and Feral's ports are Linux native. Well, at least Virtually Programming was somewhat transparent that their eON wrapper is used to translate Windows calls to Linux (or something like that) akin to Wine. While texting this I found that Feral's ports are shown as Feral3D in MangoHUD. IIRC, Feral's ports are rumoured to be called InDirectX (no idea if true or not). Anyway, it looks like those ports aren't exactly native, rather wrapped/translated similar to Wine. Yet, I failed to understand how come Feral's ports unable to play cross-platform multiplayer. Pity...
By the way, I am aware of other semi-native porting tools such as ToGL, Mono, dotnet, Unity (uses DLLs).
Last edited by rea987 on 22 Dec 2024 at 7:22 pm UTC
ElectricPrism 22 Dec 2024
7 looks better, but I will wait for reviews and definitely not be buying it at least until it is on sale if at all.
Be sure not to WrongSpeak™ thou, GoodVibes™ only or TFW 2K FireAxis yeet2oof
I genuinely wonder to what extend Aspyr and Feral's ports are Linux native.
Exactly the same as Valve's are. Compiled for Linux with fixes applied as necessary, with graphics translated from Direct3D to native APIs - using ToGL or DXVK for Valve, and using IndirectX for Feral.
CanadianBlueBeer 26 Dec 2024
I'd also like an explanation of just why it needs a 2k acct to do multiplayer.
Civ 6 does fine just using the steam accounts.
Nice to see a native linux version on day 1, so I am a bit torn as I do want to support that.
(just not with the above, and of course, the top end price is what, $180CDN? ouch.)
Patreon
PayPal
An idiots guide to setting up Minecraft on Steam Deck / SteamOS with controller support
How to install extra software, apps and games on SteamOS and Steam Deck
See more from me