Should Firaxis NOT Make a Civ6?

[x2Madda]

Civ5 still occupies the top spots on steam as far as 'currently playing' is concerned, not only beating out Civ:BE but even newer and more expensive games such as GTA5.

My question is, should Firaxis go back to making content for Civ5 like a new expansion pack?

Age of Empires 2 is almost 20 years old and still receiving expansion packs so Civ5's age is not a limiting factor in my opinion.

Topic theme changed after confirmation of Civ6

 

[smitty5ca]

Firaxis has already started developing Civ 6. You'll probably see a date for release in the next couple of months.

 

[x2Madda]

Firaxis has already started developing Civ 6. You'll probably see a date for release in the next couple of months.

People have been saying this for 3 years now, having assumed it would follow the pattern of a civ game every 5 years and then to hit the civ 20 year anniversary, but instead we got Civ:BE 2 years ago and it only got 1 expansion so far which was last year.

So either civ:be is getting 2 expansions or civ6 is going to be announced but its looking more and more that we are getting neither this year (or possibly a 2nd expansion close to december). Civ6 is not promised.

 

[MightySpice]

Because civ is played a lot, it makes sense to develop a new version. There is obviously a market.

 

[smitty5ca]

http://forums.galciv3.com/474109


Maybe not the best source, but it does sound pretty promising. If Firaxis hasn't even been working on Civ 6 this whole time, then they are pretty dumb. Civ 5 might be getting played a lot but it's probably not bringing a lot of money now. A new Civ game would be a gigantic cash cow for Firaxis. If we don't see Civ 6 this year, we'll definitely see it early next year.

 

[x2Madda]

Because civ is played a lot, it makes sense to develop a new version. There is obviously a market.

I agree with this and alongside Firaxis, believe that making a long term, sustained product like League of Legends, is an untapped avenue for Civ and when done correctly, would be extremely advantageous all-around.

Firaxis got it wrong by disabling DLC unless both players own it but we can see they tried to make Civ5 a long term project by releasing DLC civs. Had they made it so that only 1 player needs it to use it, then they could still be milking Civ5 to this day...HOWEVER that would also probably mean that modding may need to be removed to facilitate such a thing because people would just make the DLC, a "mod".

I also followed the link talking about Civ6 Q2 2016 and whilst time will tell, Firaxis is quiet all round. No news about the x-com 2 expansion, no talk at all about the future of Civ:BE franchise and of course the obvious, no talk of Civ6.

If you've seen my name around I have been chanting for Civ6 for some time but the sad truth is I'm not excited for, or even buying Civ6(at launch). After buying Civ:BE I will be waiting for Civ6:The first expansion. If Civ:BE doesn't get a 2nd expansion, that will also not bode well if Civ6 is not well recieved (lets be honest, it could happen).

 

[Gorbles]

I think whatever the future for the franchise is, it would make more sense to develop a new codebase than continue with the one that powered CiV (at least without significant work to various parts of it, which is generally what is classed as a "new" codebase). Beyond Earth had some structural advantages and indeed cleaner code than CiV in some areas, but other areas (mainly the LUA around map generation and resource distribution) was an absolute mess.

CiV was released in what, 2009? Or was it 2011, I'm not Google to get it precise. In any case 5+ years is a decent turnaround for (what is understood as) a "game engine" in this day and age. We've had platform evolution, API refinement and all sorts of hardware improvements in that time. It makes sense to build new tech to support the next generation of Civilisation games.

The benefits to all of this would be greater than going back to CiV, in my opinion. AoE 2 and similar titles are a more niche use case revolving around nostalgia and the numerous advantages of rewriting that codebase for modern OS support. CiV has no such issues on newer systems (barring inherent issues around the stability of the product itself), and thus, no real reason for such extensive post-release support.

 

[beetle]

...they could still be milking Civ5 to this day...

Civ5 still occupies the top spots on steam as far as 'currently playing' is concerned, not only beating out Civ:BE but even newer and more expensive games such as GTA5.

So Faraxis is still milking Civ5 to this day! Or do you think Civ5 manages to stay at a top spot without generating new sales?

...should they start on a Civ6?

You assume that they have not already started on Civ6???

Civ:BE showed that just taking the engine of Civ5 is not enough to guarantee another successful entry in the series that will be well received.

SMAC/X was so much better than III or IV, but was not the commercial success like either. Your conclusion is flawed.

Almost certainly Firaxis could release Civ6 using mostly the engine of Civ5 and make buckets of money. But they certainly want it to work on tablets. Because why leave that money on the table?

My personal opinion is that Civ5 and Civ:BE don't have great combat.

Does anyone think Civ5 and Civ:BE has “great” combat?

Regardless of my own speculation, should we see a Civ6 or would you welcome another expansion to Civ5?

I would welcome another expansion to Civ5 -- but that is extraordinarily unlikely.

If Firaxis hasn't even been working on Civ 6 this whole time, then they are pretty dumb. Civ 5 might be getting played a lot but it's probably not bringing a lot of money now. A new Civ game would be a gigantic cash cow for Firaxis.

All three good points, but especially your last one!

If you've seen my name around I have been chanting for Civ6 for some time but the sad truth is I'm not excited for, or even buying Civ6 (at launch). After buying Civ:BE I will be waiting for Civ6:The first expansion.

Good for you!

So either civ:be is getting 2 expansions or civ6 is going to be announced but its looking more and more that we are getting neither this year (or possibly a 2nd expansion close to december). Civ6 is not promised.

I don't think Civ:BE will be getting a second expansion, but that there was even one expansion surprised me. Maybe the work was mostly done?

I agree that Civ6 is not promised and might not even be this year. But the franchise is a license to print money, so we will get a new version sooner or later.

 

[x2Madda]

The benefits to all of this would be greater than going back to CiV, in my opinion. AoE 2 and similar titles are a more niche use case revolving around nostalgia and the numerous advantages of rewriting that codebase for modern OS support. CiV has no such issues on newer systems (barring inherent issues around the stability of the product itself), and thus, no real reason for such extensive post-release support.

Its hard for me to call Civ5 'niche' when you look at concurrent players or its total volume shifted but I do feel that they could come back to it if they wanted similar to those games. I don't think they will, they will leave it to the modders instead, but they certainly could.

Unrelated, Congratulations on releasing your game! Regardless of our thoughts and feelings about putting it out there, the fact you took it from start to finish is a great achievement!

 

[miaasma]

most people who play civ 5 would likely play civ 6 if it came out and had a good reception. i'm one of those people who are still playing civ 5 all the time; it's a fun game, but that doesn't mean i wouldn't welcome a new experience in another installment. i just hope that, when it does come out, it doesn't go the way of BE and completely underwhelm me

either way i think it's pretty obvious a civ 6 is in the works and news of it is approaching, so it's probably a moot question either way

 

[Hakan-i Cihan]

most people who play civ 5 would likely play civ 6 if it came out and had a good reception. i'm one of those people who are still playing civ 5 all the time; it's a fun game, but that doesn't mean i wouldn't welcome a new experience in another installment. i just hope that, when it does come out, it doesn't go the way of BE and completely underwhelm me

either way i think it's pretty obvious a civ 6 is in the works and news of it is approaching, so it's probably a moot question either way

Maybe a bit off-topic, but it is very clear that BE is underwhelming you hence your name: "Miaasma". Not that I say that BE is good or bad. Just needed to underline the irony...

 

[x2Madda]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but it is very clear that BE is underwhelming you hence your name: "Miaasma". Not that I say that BE is good or bad. Just needed to underline the irony...

I think we need to go deeper Leo.

Was miasma, infact, a bad mechanic? I found the AI couldn't deal with it but I loved the fact I could set off, spreading miasma everywhere!

I don't care if Civ:BE gets an expansion or a patch, they really need to deliver on the promise of proxy wars with Aliens! I still want that.