Are People already drifting away from Civ VI?

[Zegangani]

I noticed that the Civ VI Fanbase has shrunk a lot lately. There are much fewer Discussions / interactions / Engagement than there used to be some Months ago, especially since the release of Humankind.

I know there are still People who play the Game, but the Player Interest in the Game has apparently decreased. And I'm not speaking of This Forum only (in which many players say that they don't play the Game as much as they used to do, or haven't touched it since the last NFP Update), it's also the same on Reddit and Civ Discord Servers. And even most Civ Youtubers stoped making Content about Civ VI (except PotatoMCWhiskey).

So I assume most of the Players are already ready for Civ 7, and don't mind leaving a Game full of Content (and of Bugs too) for a newer One with less Features and Civs (and even more Bugs).

I'm asking this because (for those of you who don't yet know about this) I'm working on a Mod Series that is specifically designed with Modularity and Mod Compatibility in Mind, which I only do so, so that the Players can still enjoy the Features in my Mod alongside other Mods or customize them to their likings. So it's specifically designed for the Civ Community, even if the Mod and its Content actually doesn't comply with that.
And I'm starting to questioning if it's even worth it, since the Player fanbase apparently has lost interest in the Game. I know the Mod users are a minority of the Total CivPlayers, but still there used to be a ton of them.

I'm just working on a Mod with Features that I like (that are inspired by the CivFans themselves) and that I wanted to share with the Community, and I explicitly designed it as a collection of small Mod Packs for this. But this is a very tedious Work, that isn't really worth it if by the Time it's finished the Community isn't interested in this or the Game anymore. So I'm considering abandoning the concept of a Series of Packs and make a Total Overhaul Mod instead, which is much less tedious to make and opens Doors for lot's od stuff that can't be made in a normal Mod, but with not much mod compatibility and modularity.

So what do you think? are the CivPlayers already losing interst in Civ6 and leaving it? or is it just because of the end of the Summer Vacation?

For those of you who want to know more about the Mod: 4Xpansion Pass.
And FYI, I'll still make the first Mod Pack, I'm just not sure about the rest.

 

[shaglio]

I can tell you what I'm doing, but I can merely speculate what everyone else is doing. It does seem as though the amount of new posts that I need to read each day is dwindling here; I used to come into work on Monday morning and the last read thread was pushed onto the second page. Today there were about 7 or 8 of them.

I recently went back to playing Civ 5 and I'm having so much more fun. It got to the point that I was booting up Civ 6 every night because I felt like I needed to, not because I wanted to, and I would slog through playing a few hours before I went to bed. Now that I've switched back to Civ 5, I am again looking forward to playing every night and I have to force myself to save my game and head up to bed. I've never been a grognard, but this is the first time in my life that I reverted to a previous iteration of the game (and I started with Civ 1 back in 1992).

 

[Zegangani]

I recently went back to playing Civ 5 and I'm having so much more fun. It got to the point that I was booting up Civ 6 every night because I felt like I needed to, not because I wanted to, and I would slog through playing a few hours before I went to bed. Now that I've switched back to Civ 5, I am again looking forward to playing every night and I have to force myself to save my game and head up to bed. I've never been a grognard, but this is the first time in my life that I reverted to a previous iteration of the game (and I started with Civ 1 back in 1992).

Tbh, I'm not surprised by that at all. I think the reason Why Civ VI has/had such an interest in it and all that discussion which are due to Players playing a ton of Civ6 games, were the new Content that we got. But as soon as the players got used to them, they don't feel like playing all that stuff again, even with the Game Modes. that's also because of the many Issues with the Game like Diplomacy and AI. But Civ 5 is a more complete Game than Civ6 (I'm not including Vox Populi here), so no wonder that many Players return back to Civ 5 or stick with it (if they haven't played Civ6).

 

[SirMediocrity]

Personally, I lost interest in playing Civ 6 around a year ago, and haven't touched the game in months. The main reason I'm on this forum is to talk about the future of the series or to nerd out about history occasionally.

 

[Zegangani]

Personally, I lost interest in playing Civ 6 around a year ago, and haven't touched the game in months. The main reason I'm on this forum is to talk about the future of the series or to nerd out about history occasionally.

So I assume your Vote is meant sarcastically.
But yeah, Future Content always make for great and interesting discussions.

 

[racha]

D) I have nowhere near sufficient information about what other people to even begin to guess.

I've stopped because of the crashing issues that started when NFP came out, and because I'm busy shooting terrorists dead in another game.

 

[Aristos]

I can't talk for anyone else, although I have my strong opinions... but I can tell you that the drifting away on my part started a long time ago, and it may not be limited to the latest iteration only.

Happily playing the One That Cannot Be Named now. Much better.

 

[9gkj548hkm20vk79dj689bnj4]

I don't play much anymore either. I only waited for the last of the patches and DLC to come out, and with that over...I still like Civ 5 better. Sorry.

 

[pokiehl]

Civ 6 is still in the top 20 active games on Steam and that doesn’t account for other platforms like Epic or consoles. So a lot of people are still playing.

I think what may be dropping off are the enthusiasts. As an example: this forum may have less traffic now but the subreddit is still very active, as is the discord; these latter two surely have a more casual makeup.

I consider myself an enthusiast and I’m not really interested in the game anymore. Not just because I have problems with it (I have problems with every game after all) but because I’ve been playing and modding it for 5 years now. My interests have evolved. It’s natural that those of us who have been there since the early days of it are cooling off of it.

 

[Victoria]

So I assume most of the Players are already ready for Civ 7,

I a, fine TBH. I had stopped playing, but Humankind has plucked up my interest and I am finding it more enjoyable now than for quite a while.
However, I think a non changing version of a game only has so much interest in a forum.

(I have problems with every game

Most do, but nice to hear it voiced.

 

[Zegangani]

I think what may be dropping off are the enthusiasts. As an example: this forum may have less traffic now but the subreddit is still very active, as is the discord; these latter two surely have a more casual makeup.

Yes, there is still some traffic on Discord and Reddit, but most of them are either some of the usual Suspects or new Civ 6 Players. Most of the CivVeterans, that you described well as "Enthusiasts" have already left the Civ6 Battlefield.

EDIT:

I consider myself an enthusiast and I’m not really interested in the game anymore. Not just because I have problems with it (I have problems with every game after all) but because I’ve been playing and modding it for 5 years now. My interests have evolved. It’s natural that those of us who have been there since the early days of it are cooling off of it.

I just started modding since early 2020. And I also haven't played the Game in 2018. So Lots of Gaps that may explain why I'm still interested in making mods for the Game and playing it, so my interest in the Game hasn't (yet) cooled off yet as yours.

 

[Zaarin]

I consider myself an enthusiast and I’m not really interested in the game anymore. Not just because I have problems with it (I have problems with every game after all) but because I’ve been playing and modding it for 5 years now. My interests have evolved. It’s natural that those of us who have been there since the early days of it are cooling off of it.

This is where I am, too. Civ6 has problems, but overall I consider it a very good game. However, after five years and who knows how many hours (Steam says 308, but I only started playing online two years ago) I've done virtually everything I want to do with it. I've actually been thinking about playing again, but other games keep claiming my attention.

 

[dagriggstar]

Started working more which means less free time.

More generally I stopped modding (not that I'm a notable modder by any stretch of the imagination) when I realized I wouldn't be able to fully realize what I set out to do. I think working on mods kept the game fresh for me, so know that I've lost the time to do that, when I do boot up a game it doesn't feel fresh, I notice things that annoy me more etc.

 

[Zegangani]

I think working on mods kept the game fresh for me, so know that I've lost the time to do that, when I do boot up a game it doesn't feel fresh, I notice things that annoy me more etc.

That's exactly why I can't play the Game without Mods. I played it dozens of Time without Mods before I started using Mods, Now I can't enjoy it without Mods that breath fresh Air into the Game.

 

[Victoria]

Steam says 308,

Just noticed a sad number coming up for me, naturally it is not all playing time but I hate to say a fair amount will be.

 

[Builderphile]

I have always loved Civ 6, from the date of release until the date of Humankind release. I visited these forums daily and was always entertained. But the release of Humankind has made it so that, for the first time since October of 2016, I have taken a couple of weeks off Civ and have been playing Humankind almost daily.

I have also lost interest in the Civ forums because there is no more speculation/anticipation here and the posting activity has dropped dramatically.

That said, as much as Humankind has my attention right now, I don't think that game will keep me interested as long as Civ 6 has, and I will probably go back to playing Civ 6 on a nightly basis once again at some point in the future.

 

[Alaindor]

I'm rather new to the Civ series and only started with 6, I still have a lot to discover and leaders to play but I paused playing for a few weeks: busy for one, but also eagerly disappointed to still have so many game-breaking bugs that cause imbalance and spoil the fun - and no vision of when - if - they will be solved. I don't use mods anyway, I'm content with the vanilla (GS, NFP) game and I want to spend my gaming time on, well, playing, and not managing mods incompatibilities (but that's just me).

 

[aieeegrunt]

I would have stopped playing a while ago but I found that just playing the basic game took care of a LOT of issues I have with this game

The AI is still absolutly the worst in the series by a landslide though

 

[Haig]

There is nothing new for Civ VI on the horizon so here its more quiet.
On reddit though the discussions have no sign of slowing down, I think the discounts bring many new players.

Plus the player count is crazy high on Steam, today's peak has been 51,000 (Civ V 21,000 which is good too) plus there are many more players on consoles, ios etc.

I am still playing Civ VI,but 1upt is getting more and more annoying, so I am totally ready for VII announcement!

 

[aieeegrunt]

There is nothing new for Civ VI on the horizon so here its more quiet.
On reddit though the discussions have no sign of slowing down, I think the discounts bring many new players.

Plus the player count is crazy high on Steam, today's peak has been 51,000 (Civ V 21,000 which is good too) plus there are many more players on consoles, ios etc.

I am still playing Civ VI,but 1upt is getting more and more annoying, so I am totally ready for VII announcement!

I hate to be That Guy but I highly doubt Civ7 is going to move away from 1upt