I hope not, unless as something that can be toggled or at least as something that is extraordinarily rare.
Could meteors have drastically changed history? Yes.
Have they? No, not really. There hasn't been a major impact in recorded history. The Tunguska event was kind of interesting, but it didn't actually
do anything except make us a little more aware that something
could happen.
This is actually incorrect. Meteorites were a source of pure iron that could not be found any other way. They were the first sources of iron for humankind. We know that Chinese and Egyptian iron weapons were made from meteorite sources, and they may have shaped the rise and fall of kings and nations. Also the discovery and use of the meteorite iron surely provided the grounds for metallurgy. We also know meteorites were sources of Iron for the Inuit and the Vikings.
Also we will never know how many religions and myths appeared from meteorites, but we are certain of stories about them in many cultures. And that there were tied to the Gods, in Greek mythology,
It is true that we are unaware of big disasters originated from meteorites, but that does not mean that they did not happen. It is actually not unreasonable to believe that legends or myths like the end of the Atlantis or the destruction of Sodoma and Gomorra, could have been inspired by them.
In any case, the fact is that meteorites are a real treat that may change human history if it happens. Civ is not about retracing the past of human history, but building a new one, and to me they surely can in the game, to provide iron and for them being a rare catastrofic event.
I’m actually more excited by by this line in the steam announcement than anything else:
"Game modes can include additional content such as new units, buildings or improvements and can be turned on or off during game setup to apply significant and dramatic changes to the rule of the game'"
Hope that this means all new stuff from the different game modes can be carried if we want to a regular game... Maybe even some mecanics from existing game modes can also be carried out.
I know that the phrasing of the announcement was not clear at all. But, I sure hope this will be the case.
Also I am more excited about the updates in between DLCs than by the DLCs. Hoping there would be balance changes, bug fixes, UI improvements, AI improvements, and some QoL like disabling autolenses...
In any case, for me this is also a big letdown as I dont think we can expect significant changes in the terrible religion and WC systems. Or any big improvement in current systems at all. Also all Mods may be broken for the entire next year until the season pass ends and modders can fix the mods again, if they still care about it.
Bittersweet announcement for me.
PS: I want tsunamis and eathquakes, come on FXS, give me hope.