I would assume that "partnering with a different brand" would not involve another historical-flavored 4x game.
Perhaps I did misinterpret this.
I think it's like how Marvel partnered with Firaxis to make a XCOM like game. Which resulted in Marvel's Midnight Suns.
Many will agree it turned out to more than the sum of its parts. IMO a huge success (from the point of view of innovative game design and even engineering).
Something Firaxis haven't really been able to claim for awhile.
First of all. I’m grateful you alerted us all to the survey and I’ll definitely be taking it. I think we’re all eager to share our views with Firaxis.
Np.
TBH I was totally surprised nobody had already posted it.
Was it accompanied by an update as well?
That said, there’s no factual basis for anything you’ve asserted here—it’s all completely wild speculation, from being “far away from Civ 7” to “investment in Unreal hasn’t panned out” and everything else.
I have no clue what you mean about Firaxis “licensing the engine” from Amplitude. Amplitude used Unity as I’m sure you’re well aware, not their own engine. There’s nothing to license from Amplitude.
And that’s putting aside the completely baseless assumption that this AAA development team working on the most successful 4x series ever is somehow in desperate need of a foundation for their game, is catastrophically years behind schedule, and for some reason needs to rely on the work done by a much smaller, much less successful competitor…
I don't mean to upset the apple cart.
It looks to me (from the survey) that Civ VII is still at the market research stage, sadly.
There's a question about mobile games. So perhaps Firaxis are even considering a successor to Civ Rev 2 perhaps?
Re: licence from Amplitude:
Build Civ VII on a total conversion of HUMANKIND. I mean it is possible to mod Civ VI mechanics into HUMANKIND RN.
Leaders instead of avatars.
No cultural transitions, etc.
2K+Firaxis charge AAA $$$
But Civ VI is hardly a product of AAA engineering...not in an age where graphics in Cyberpunk 2.0 rivals CGI in movies (thanks to AI ray tracing in NVIDIA DLSS 3.5).
Marvel's Midnight Suns comes the closest Firaxis gets to AAA...but I think many gamers will disagree.