Looks like Civ 6 is done: Kevin called April "final game update"

[Noble Zarkon]

And lastly just the fact NFP seems to have been a roaring success and was itself clearly a test model for a way to deliver additional content over the long term. Seriously, why create a model for delivering more content to Civ 6, and then have that model be a success, and then... not deliver any more content with said model?

To me this is the critical point, I fully expect NFP Season 2 as commercially that's the only thing that makes sense.

 

[tzu]

There hasn’t been any relationship with the end of the game development cycle and the release of the dll historically speaking.

History is overvalued. Growth of platform capacity and balance sheet are mandatory. Future civilizations will incorporate all necessary modes naturally.
Wildlife mods are expendable. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

As I understand it, Ed Beach et al are working on a new IP that is not Civ.

Just received this email Monday...

Spoiler :

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Just received this email Monday...

Spoiler :

XCOM 3?

 

[HiRezAudio]

I think it's completely ambiguous. "Final update" can equally mean final NFP update.

Exactly so.
It's the 12th update in the 12 months of the NFP.

 

[Buktu]

To me this is the critical point, I fully expect NFP Season 2 as commercially that's the only thing that makes sense.

Mabye a little break (maybe a few little patches to fix some bugs) after the april patch before they start a season 2 in summer/atumn for another year. After season 2 they will have around a year left to fix the last bugs before they can release Civ 7 in autumn 2023 - 7 years after the released Civ 6. Sounds quite good for me.

 

[Pietato]

I would've liked them adding more overarching gameplay mechanics instead of buildings, civilizations, leaders etc. If anything they should've added more inbetween units like compositebowman between archer and crossbowman, longswordsman between swordsman and musketman, and rifleman between musketman and infantry. Without the additions, the game feels unfinished. We had these units in previous iterations but now they're missing. Perhaps the biggest necessity are QoL changes like improved AI and opening up modding capabilities. If they leave the game is this state, they have delivered an unfinished product.

Would be nice (also trebuchet), but the game needs to be slowed down a lot to accommodate them.

 

[Nerevatar]

Civilization VI Game Update - December 2020

I don’t know that this is true. Up to now their communication has been quite specific to “NFP” or “season” - happy to concede if you can link to this not being the case. In general they are really careful about the words they use and consistently hedge what they’re saying, which is the entire reason I found this noteworthy.

See the naming of all the free update videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-lTq9LJCHpRSLjKfPuh5EJuHdysI1a8U

• Civilization VI Game Update - December 2020
  
• Civilization VI Game Update - Oktober 2020
  
• Civilization VI Game Update - August 2020
  
• etc

And here Kevin says it around 0:14: here. It is also used in the same way in other videos.

It seems very much to be a term they use for the free NFP patches.

 

[pokiehl]

Civilization VI Game Update - December 2020

See the naming of all the free update videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-lTq9LJCHpRSLjKfPuh5EJuHdysI1a8U

• Civilization VI Game Update - December 2020
  
• Civilization VI Game Update - Oktober 2020
  
• Civilization VI Game Update - August 2020
  
• etc

And here Kevin says it around 0:14: here. It is also used in the same way in other videos.

It seems very much to be a term they use for the free NFP patches.

I mean yeah, they’re ALL game updates. The updates from before NFP are called that too.

Time will tell!

 

[AntSou]

The probability of dev team doing "maintenance mode" for Civ VI while observing how Humankind performs so they can develop a good Civ VII is getting higher.

I don't think there's anything like that at all. Humankind may very well have the effect of influencing certain Civ VII elements, but that's just the natural process of being a game in the same genre. Good ideas are copied.

Ive kept an eye on development since August 2019 and played the OpenDevs, and Humankind is shaping up to be something that I liked more before I knew many details.

OpenDevs are boring, imo. They're isolated experiences which do not allow for immersion, and therefore a huge part of enjoying a 4x in the first place. I don't think they are useful as a measure of how much one will enjoy the game upon release. It's the interaction with the process of creation of the game which is the fun part of OpenDevs.

I'd gladly test isolated scenarios for Civ 7, but that's because being part of a community which may have a small (or not so small, considering Tamar and NFP) impact on the final product sounds exciting. By themselves, test scenarios are a chore.

To me this is the critical point, I fully expect NFP Season 2 as commercially that's the only thing that makes sense.

I don't fully expect it, but I think it's likely we'll get more DLC. They've revealed some important things recently. Especially, it seems we've been wrong in assuming their plans are well planned and thought-out in advance. This doesn't seem to be the case, at least not as strictly as we often make it out to be. They've admitted to not even having the Barbarian mode planned, and that they only decided to switch focus to more modes rather than scenarios because the former were proving more popular than the latter. So they were adapting and changing NFP as NFP was being created.

Like I've said before, if in April they do not, conclusively, close the door of Civ 6, to me that strongly signals Civ 7 is not their priority atm. This interview also seems to suggest that. They're focused on something else (which Deliverator and Laurana seem to confirm above). It's because that something else is not Civ 7 that Civ 6 future can be left undecided.

Or, you know, I'm talking out of my ***. Last time I made a prediction, it was how Grant Chang's drinking peculiarly from a mug meant we were getting the Inuit Civ. That didn't happen

---

Edit: Oh and, we'll see what they name their new bundle (assuming there's one). I expect Diamond Edition or some similar name rather than Definitive Edition.

 

[Deliverator]

Like I've said before, if in April they do not, conclusively, close the door of Civ 6, to me that strongly signals Civ 7 is not their priority atm. This interview also seems to suggest that. They're focused on something else (which Deliverator and Laurana seem to confirm above). It's because that something else is not Civ 7 that Civ 6 future can be left undecided.

The source on that is not us but this interview with the 2K President David Ismailer:

As for specific areas where 2K will be applying these general priorities, Ismailer described China and the mobile market as "huge priorities" for the company. It's also stepping up investment in the WWE 2K franchise, and hopes to broaden the offerings coming out of Firaxis.

"We did Civ, then we did XCOM, and now we're looking hopefully to add one more to that portfolio," Ismailer said.

That sounds like they set the goal for Firaxis in 2018 of developing a third big franchise.

 

[OmegaDestroyer]

If this is the end, that is fine with me. I've sunk about 2,000 hours into Civ VI and absolutely love it. It's received more support than most games and I will continue to enjoy what has been made for it. I am ready for Civ VII or, fingers crossed, Beyond Earth 2. I would love to see the Civ VI systems extend into a BE setting.

If this is not the end, I look forward to whatever new content they release.

Either way, it's a win to me.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

The source on that is not us but this interview with the 2K President David Ismailer:

Interesting, thanks!

Finally, Ismailer emphasized the need to keep players engaged with its games for longer.

Hmm ....

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I've sunk about 2,000 hours into Civ VI and absolutely love it.

Same here, 2500 hours but only 3 proper wins at Emperor (lots at Prince/King and a few at higher levels gaming the system for achievements lol), I've cleared out my personal Hall of Fame and I'm aiming now to fill it with Emperor victories

 

[Wielki Hegemon]

Finally, Ismailer emphasized the need to keep players engaged with its games for longer.

Now you know why they were testing New Frontier Pass and how Civ VII development will probably look like

 

[konokoni]

It's funny that we now have a couple of official statements from the dev team, but still no concrete indication of which way things will go. I guess we'll know when we know... I hope they commit soon either way so I can stop thinking about it.

I'd gladly pay for another year of patches / balance / AI & UI improvements, even if the pack didn't come with new civs & game modes. However, I think I'm in the minority on this point when considering the player base as a whole. I am guessing it's the civs that generally generate DLC sales for the "average" player.

 

[thecrazyscot]

Finally, Ismailer emphasized the need to keep players engaged with its games for longer.

They want civ players to have more engagement for longer?

Have they no mercy?

 

[aieeegrunt]

They want civ players to have more engagement for longer?

Have they no mercy?

Including a clock in the UI has probably saved lives, mine included

I think Civ6 had a incredible amount of content and frankly we don’t need any more. Some fixes and patches and polish would make this the #1 Civ title for me

 

[Zegangani]

I think Civ VI has reached its End, regarding new Content. If it isn't, then why would the Devs make a huge Balance Patch at the end of NFP, if they had Plans for more Content that would make the Game need another big Balance Patch? That would be just unnecessary work.
But we might still get some free Game Updates later on, to fix the Bugs that will come with "the biggest community Event" and the Zombie Mode (not very likely that it will get bug fixes in the April patch). Although I'm not expecting to get AI or UI improvements in those, but Bug Fixes and maybe some few Balance fixes.

So for now, One can only speculate what the April Patch might change and bring (Fun Surprises?!). I tend to think that the "Some New Fun Surprises" might be either:
- Some few free Alt Leaders/Personas (It would be New and a real Surprise).
- Some changes to existing Mechanics (WC, CSs...etc). But that wouldn't count as "New", and not really a Surprise, since Fans are anticipating this for Years now, so...
- Or, what I would love to see, some existing Mechanisms revised to be togglable On-n-Off like the Modes. Not really "New", but that would be a real Surprise and would make a lot of People Happy.
Although I would love to get one final Mode ala Barbarian Clans or C&M, the wording of Anton at the end of the LiveStream don't give much hope for that.

Anyway, at this Time, I just want some AI improvements and Bug Fixes. Any new Content would mean the opposite.

 

[Wielki Hegemon]

They want civ players to have more engagement for longer?

Have they no mercy?

Welcome into the KPI driven world