Civ 7 Steam Version Suffers Deluge of Negative Reviews as Advanced Access Releases

Civilization VII's Early Access Launch Met with Negative Steam Reviews

Civilization VII (Civ 7) launched its Advanced Access five days ahead of its February 11th release, but the early reception on Steam has been overwhelmingly negative. The game currently holds a "mostly negative" rating, with player feedback focusing on several key issues.

User Interface Criticism: A significant portion of the negative reviews target the game's user interface (UI). Many players find the UI inferior to Civ 6, describing it as clunky, visually unappealing, and even comparing it to a "free mobile knockoff." Some speculate that Firaxis Games prioritized console development, resulting in a simplified, less customizable UI experience.

Map and Resource Mechanics Concerns: Further criticism centers on the game's map system. Players report issues with map selection, limited map size options (only small, medium, and large, compared to Civ 6's five sizes), and a lack of customization. The new resource mechanics, which assign resources to cities or empires through strategic management rather than direct tile collection, have also drawn considerable negative feedback. Players argue the previous system offered greater replayability.

Firaxis Responds: Firaxis Games acknowledged the negative feedback, particularly concerning the UI, stating they are actively investigating the concerns and committed to making improvements through future updates and expansions. They also encouraged players to continue providing feedback on desired map features.

The overwhelmingly negative response to Civ 7's Advanced Access release highlights significant concerns regarding the UI and core gameplay mechanics. Whether Firaxis Games can address these issues before the official release remains to be seen.