Signs Point To Beyond Earth 2

[blackbutterfly]

2K (?) are going hard on socials marketing the (not new) Julius Caesar leader, which is a reward for linking your 2K account.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1700894398584934638

It was released with the Leader Pass, quite a while back, but got buffed in the latest Civ VI update 2K/Firaxis call the "Julius Caesar Update".

Now I signed up to a 2K account like 6+ yrs ago...and it was for the release of Beyond Earth, where we had cross game unlockables.

So could all this 2K account marketing push be in preparation of a Beyond Earth 2 release?

 

[Naeshar]

I dont think so. Julius Caesar was a free reward for linking at the start of Leader Pass, which was about a year ago already. It is not a new thing as of this week, just a reminder.

I cant remember unlockables from Beyond Earth release, of course. But nothing points towards BE2, unfortunately. I would be certainly glad to have a new space game, as this year marks 9th year anniversary, it seems nobody at the marketing team wants to remind anyone of this game.

Based on the development cycle length, we are more probably getting a CIv7 than a spinoff.

 

[blackbutterfly]

Based on the development cycle length, we are more probably getting a CIv7 than a spinoff.

I think the Leader Pass (and the JC update we got last month) is good indication they've been still working on Civ VI. Not on a Civ VII. Soz.

While Firaxis engineering have been known to produce these Civ spin offs between every major release. If they release Civ VII straight away it would be a first.
Also BE was an opportunity to try out new things.

1-tile Wonders
Play wide (and city management).
Alliances
Diplomatic currency

These all made their appearance first in BE before making it into Civ VI.

These spin-offs give Firaxis time to engineer Civ VII.
(And from the bug/exploit riddled fiasco that was Civ VI, they really do need it!)

 

[Naeshar]

I think the Leader Pass (and the JC update we got last month) is good indication they've been still working on Civ VI. Not on a Civ VII. Soz.

While Firaxis engineering have been known to produce these Civ spin offs between every major release. If they release Civ VII straight away it would be a first.

Some fanatics members did not consider Leader Pass a full expansion, but more like a work of a Junior team, learning the ropes. Considering it had to be adjusted quite heavily now... I agree. The senior team members must be working on something else and my guess is not on BE2.
It wouldnt be first, there was nothing between Civ3 and Civ4, as I checked. If you consider Starships a spinoff, then there were two between Civ5 and Civ6. They can do whatever they want.

Also BE was an opportunity to try out new things.

1-tile Wonders
Play wide (and city management).
Alliances
Diplomatic currency

Yes, every game added something new to the code. I doubt playing wide was not present before Civ5 and in BE it is hampered anyway.
Also add the standard of four traits/trait types and multiple leader agendas.

 

[blackbutterfly]

Some fanatics members did not consider Leader Pass a full expansion, but more like a work of a Junior team, learning the ropes. Considering it had to be adjusted quite heavily now... I agree. The senior team members must be working on something else and my guess is not on BE2.

Not junior. It's the new "Design" team Ed Beach established.
So Firaxis eng. have split "Development" (programmers/coders) and "Design".

"Carlbarian" is on the design team having made the switcheroo from Firaxis QA.

But I think you're right, the Leader Pass was their first project, that presumably didn't need much involvement from the dev team as it was mostly stuff modders could have accomplished without much in the way of coding.

It wouldnt be first, there was nothing between Civ3 and Civ4, as I checked.

Sid Meir's Pirates! (Now a "scenario" in Civ VI).

Also I do not consider Starships a spin off.
It was new IP that 2K+Firaxis tried very hard to tie into the Civ franchise.

 

[legalizefreedom]

I don't know about what you're suggesting, but I have noticed in the marketing they've done, particularly for the anniversary, they have mentioned something about "going Beyond Earth". They have mentioned it quite a bit which does give me hope.

I would be happy if they just finish the first one. I still play it more than any other civ since it came out.

 

[Protok St]

I would be happy if they just finish the first one. I still play it more than any other civ since it came out.

Really? Thats great! Let's go to play HotSeat by email?

Here is the lobby you can join:

https://www.playyourdamnturn.com/game/b64932b0-1d8f-448e-b4bb-2e0281b7079f

 

[legalizefreedom]

I should probably try out Anchor Ceti first.

Your Discord has quite a barrier to entry. I'm joined, but I'll have to figure out how to get access to the Anchor Ceti stuff.

 

[Protok St]

I should probably try out Anchor Ceti first.

Your Discord has quite a barrier to entry. I'm joined, but I'll have to figure out how to get access to the Anchor Ceti stuff.

You can join Guest Hall voice channel, and I will guide you thru.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I think the Leader Pass (and the JC update we got last month) is good indication they've been still working on Civ VI. Not on a Civ VII. Soz.

While Firaxis engineering have been known to produce these Civ spin offs between every major release. If they release Civ VII straight away it would be a first.
Also BE was an opportunity to try out new things.

1-tile Wonders
Play wide (and city management).
Alliances
Diplomatic currency

These all made their appearance first in BE before making it into Civ VI.

These spin-offs give Firaxis time to engineer Civ VII.
(And from the bug/exploit riddled fiasco that was Civ VI, they really do need it!)

A small disagreement --
Playing wide, that is, more than 10 cities, was quite the norm in Civ3 and CIv4, as well as previous games. Indeed, playing with only 5 cities was considered to be a handicap, a challenge, for advanced players.
Viewed through a whole franchise lens, Civ5 and its bias for playing with few, tall cities is the outlier, not the norm.

I will agree that BE(RT) stretched the Civ5 model in very interesting ways. One could play tall, or one could -- by buffing certain affinities -- grow out of the global unhealthiness. The various paths through the tech web, to reward certain affinities, I enjoy / enjoyed very much. Having orbital units, in their own layer, was a great idea. Their total re-think of diplomacy and diplomatic agreements is a step away from Civ tradition (Soren's trading table). I agree that some of the BERT ideas did make it into Civ6.

I personally would love to see a spinoff game that was successful. Colonization used the Civ4 engine, but didn't match Civ4 in reach or popularity. Our beloved BERT used the Civ5 engine, but didn't capture enough fans. While they could have made a spinoff game using the Civ6 engine (and still could, I suppose), I think that the New Frontier Pass and Leader Pass are evidence that they made a different choice. They chose expansion, or perhaps extension, of the existing Civ6 game instead of a spinoff. Even with pandemic delays, I expect the next game to be Civ7 rather than a spinoff.

 

[blackbutterfly]

Also add the standard of four traits/trait types and multiple leader agendas.

Yes, and I forgot one of the most important things.
Price.

Before 2K+Firaxis decided to charge AAA price for Civ VI, we got the $50 Beyond Earth.
When Civ V was $30(?) at launch.

That didn't go down too well
IMO it's one reason it was panned by Civ-ers.

 

[Darsnan]

So could all this 2K account marketing push be in preparation of a Beyond Earth 2 release?

2K/ Firaxis have teased this before, most notably with the release of the Civ6 Red Death spin-off which had the lander from Civ:BE "leaving the party early", which they then linked this catchphrase via the search function on the 2K website:

And nothing came of that.

Yes, and I forgot one of the most important things.
Price.

Before 2K+Firaxis decided to charge AAA price for Civ VI, we got the $50 Beyond Earth.
When Civ V was $30(?) at launch.

That didn't go down too well
IMO it's one reason it was panned by Civ-ers.

That and BE was compared and found wanting versus Alpha Centauri by a majority of the players at the time of its release, and they never came back once RT was released:

Bottom line (pun intended) companies are in the business of making money, and BE never engaged the general public, so why would they invest more money in something that didn't net a return the first time round?

D

 

[legalizefreedom]

Because that's what you do when you're building a brand. The first outing doesn't always catch on. Esp. when you abandon it 3/4 through. There are many factors in play, but alot of BE's commercial struggles are their own fault. There are a few small design problems, but the biggest factor was the lack of follow through. Notice how much better the game was after they implemented RT? If they add a few things, shore up some others in a second exp, they could have turned opinions.

I think BE2's chances are slim, but whatever they do, I hope they give it the love.

 

[Darsnan]

I think BE2's chances are slim, but whatever they do, I hope they give it the love.

I do hope that you are right. Apologies if my previous post comes across negative, but I remember going thru the same process with Alpha Centauri where Firaxis would tease something regarding a follow-up, and of course nothing ever came of that.

We will see - we had to wait 15 years after Alpha Centauri for BE, so we're not outside that window for a BE follow-up/ new Planetary Sci-Fi 4X TBS game. Let's hope Firaxis did indeed take enough positives away from their experiences with BE in 2014 that they will re-engage in this genre in the not too distant future.

D

 

[blackbutterfly]

Bottom line (pun intended) companies are in the business of making money, and BE never engaged the general public, so why would they invest more money in something that didn't net a return the first time round?

In comparison HUMANKIND a new IP from Amplitude has between about +150% engagement in comparison to Beyond Earth which is a 9(?) yr old game.
That's pretty fantastic TBH...and what's more is SEGA+Amplitude are continuing to develop it and release DLC. (It just released Oceania DLC last week).

Maybe in comparison to Civ V, it's not fantastic, but after all Beyond Earth is a total conversion. There wasn't much in the way of new coding/programming that needed to be done for BE.
Sure, aquatic gameplay (and maps), and the satellite layer. But TBH everything else could have just been modded.

Big returns, for small investment.

That's what Beyond Earth is to Firaxis+2K.

 

[blackbutterfly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1736777825586389223

 

[blackbutterfly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1736777825586389223

Significantly when Beyond Earth launched in 2016(?) there may have been only like ~100 exoplanets discovered.

Now it's 5000+.

 

[blackbutterfly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1748006989723038025

 

[blackbutterfly]

The last string of X(Twitter) posts have been of a space/astronomical nature. (And I'm excluding the ones about robots).

https://twitter.com/x/status/1780635635642175810

https://twitter.com/x/status/1779924946434785432

https://twitter.com/x/status/1779924944832671904

https://twitter.com/x/status/1778840150392680728