"Strauss Zelnick 'Thrilled' with Civilization 7 Despite High Play Rates of Civ 6 and 5 on Steam"

Civilization 7 has had a rocky start on Steam — that’s undeniable. Since its February launch, the strategy sequel has struggled to attract players on Valve’s platform. Steam user reviews reflect a “mixed” reception. Despite multiple patches from developer Firaxis aimed at improving sentiment, Civilization 7 now has fewer players on Steam than Civilization 6 and even the 15-year-old Civilization 5.

Of course, Civ 7’s Steam performance doesn’t tell the whole story. The game also launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch — with a Nintendo Switch 2 version, optimized for the new Joy-Con mouse controls, set to release soon. But PC remains Civilization’s core audience, and there, Civ 7 is clearly underperforming.

“I’m thrilled with Civ 7 so far,” Zelnick said. “There were some initial issues, but our team at Firaxis has done an excellent job addressing them. There’s still more work to do, but I’m confident it will meet player expectations — and ultimately, we’ll have a highly successful title.”

Zelnick also pointed to the Civilization series’ well-known long sales cycle, especially compared to other games, and expressed confidence that Civ 7 would follow the same pattern.

“The history of every Civilization release shows that early changes often unsettle our fans — because they care deeply about the franchise,” he said.

“But over time, players come to see these changes as improvements. And with a long sales cycle, we consistently thrive. I believe that’s exactly what’s going to happen here.

“Of course, we had some early issues, which we’ve partially resolved and continue to refine.”

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At launch, players pointed to problems with the user interface, limited map variety, and a sense that key features were missing — things they’d come to expect from the series.

Zelnick’s comment about hardcore Civ fans being uneasy at launch likely refers to the significant changes Firaxis introduced.

A full campaign in Civilization 7 spans all three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Once an Age ends, all players — including AI opponents — transition simultaneously. During each Age Transition, you choose a new civilization from the next Age, select which Legacies to carry forward, and the world evolves. This system is entirely new to the Civilization franchise. Zelnick clearly believes fans will grow to appreciate it over time.

Take-Two hasn’t disclosed sales figures for Civilization 7 yet, but in its financial report, the company said it’s “pursuing opportunities to expand the audience,” including the recent release of Civilization 7 VR for Meta Quest 3 and 3S, as well as the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 port.