Civilization 7, the latest 4X turn-based strategy title from Firaxis Games, has hit a new low about four months after it officially launched on February 11, 2025.
I'm talking about the game's status on Steam, where the Recent Reviews rating — which considers reviews from the past 30 days — has dropped to "Mostly Negative" with more than 1,300 submissions.
While the game is still sitting on an overall "Mixed" rating with more than 32,000 reviews, it certainly appears to be trending toward the negative.
Civ 7 has received several large updates since its launch, the most recent (version 1.2.1) arriving on May 27 with new map support, Steam Workshop support, numerous balance changes, and some UI/QoL improvements.
It doesn't appear to have improved the user review score.
Why are players so upset about Civilization VII?
I would not consider Civilization 7's current predicament a sample of the review bombing that's sometimes seen with high-profile games. Reading through reviews from players, many of the arguments are valid.
I published my Civilization 7 review at launch, following about 40 hours of pre-release playtime. My review was certainly positive, and I noted how much I enjoyed discovering the new mechanics in a world that felt undeniably like Civ.
👉 Related: Civilization VII review roundup
I did, however, make note of many of the game's downsides, including the paid DLC schedule, a lack of Information Era, and how the game's new Age mechanic made some matches feel clunky and disorganized.
That last point seems to be causing a lot of grief for players. One user with 263+ hours of playtime says:
But fact of the matter is, if this wasn't a Civilization series game, and if I hadn't been playing Civ games my entire life, then I would have dropped this one very early on.
Steam user "David Blank"
Another user with 748 hours played at the time of the review remarks:
Put simply, the game is a major disappointment and I don't know if it can be saved - at all. The Age transition theme is just flat out unappetising. I can't face the Exploration Age let alone contemplate going through to the Modern Age. Painful. The Antiquity Age is ok but doesn't last long enough, and being on a clock means more often than not you feel corralled into narrow and boring gameplay.
Steam user "stmac74"
Not all of the recent reviews are negative, however. A players with more than 267 hours at the time of the review has this to say:
Aesthetically, Civ7 is the best visual Civ game, hands down. There are major improvements over prior Civ games in terms of micromanagement fatigue and a majority, though not all, of the cornerstone changes in Civ7 are series-defining improvements.
Steam user "Legskindal"
How did this happen to a game series that's been around since 1991?
Firaxis Games took a bigger risk than I expected with Civilization 7, revamping many of the core mechanics familiar to longtime Civ players.
For example, ages are now split with a soft reset for the map and your units, effectively removing some of the drawn-out matches that occurred in older Civ titles. This also makes it a lot easier to switch up your strategy if it hasn't worked well in earlier ages.
👉 Related: Civilization VII ultimate starter guide
One of the best improvements to Civ 7 is the way the game removes a lot of micromanagement, especially in the late game while you're waging war. I also appreciate how the game forces an emphasis on map positioning and resources.
Civilization has gathered a diehard group of followers in its 34 years as a series, and I was expecting some pushback on the game's new mechanics. I did not, however, expect to see such a low score just months after launch.
Civilization VII's player count is cratering
With Civilization 6 and Civilization 5 still looking very good in 2025, players are leaving Civ 6 in droves.
SteamDB has stats on PC player count, and while it's but a small part of the overall player base, I don't doubt that the drop-off is seen on other platforms.
At the time of writing, Civ 7 has 6,368 players in-game on PC, with an 8,679 player peak in the last 24 hours. That's a big drop compared to the 84,558 PC player peak seen at launch.
To put that into perspective, Civilization 6 currently has 32,046 PC players in-game right now. Civilization 5, which launched 15 years ago, currently has 12,429 players on PC.
I will say that both Civ 5 and 6 have a lot more content to enjoy after countless DLCs, which likely skews the scores. However, the gap in players is too big to simply explain away so easily.
Civilization 7 seems to be in big trouble, and I don't know if its upcoming DLCs can save it.
What do you think of Civ 7? Are you enjoying its overhauled gameplay? Are you one of the 6,000+ people enjoying the game today on Steam? Let me know in the comments section below!
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