What Civs and Leaders do you all predict will be in VII's base game?

[bbbt]

It can be as simple as wanting to change things up. Also, in my opinion (and Firaxis might (or might not) share this) it can be beneficial to deliberately exclude specific civs from the base roster in order to make clear that there is no such thing as a guaranteed civ, just like Persia was omitted for the first time in Civ VI. The Aztecs are one of the more obvious candidates to put into 'not guaranteed' status, as they might be more well-known, but aren't necessarily more historically important than other possible civs in their niche, like the Mayas or Incas.

I think Shaka and the Zulu is another main candidate for this IMHO. I've long thought they are in Civ primarily because the Michael Caine movie "Zulu" was big when Sid was young.

 

[Caesar of Bread]

That's quite close to being in the base game though. I mean, that's as close as you get short of being in the base game.

I imagine Mexico might also be an important market for entry so Aztecs are likely to be in early I think.

And if not the Aztecs the Maya might suffice? Either the Aztecs or the Maya should be in VII's base game. But yeah Mexico's market might be a reason why the Aztecs will be earlier to be added in Civ

 

[reddishrecue]

And if not the Aztecs the Maya might suffice? Either the Aztecs or the Maya should be in VII's base game. But yeah Mexico's market might be a reason why the Aztecs will be earlier to be added in Civ

I was thinking this too.

 

[Vandlys]

Not to mention that the Aztecs technically weren't a base game civ in Civ VI either. They were a free day one DLC.

That's quite close to being in the base game though. I mean, that's as close as you get short of being in the base game.

I imagine Mexico might also be an important market for entry so Aztecs are likely to be in early I think.

The Aztec were only a free DLC on release day for people who pre-ordered the game. For all others, they were released in a separate DLC pack 90 days after release.

So yeah, not in the base game, but really a distinction without a difference.

 

[reddishrecue]

The Aztec were only a free DLC on release day for people who pre-ordered the game. For all others, they were released in a separate DLC pack 90 days after release.

So yeah, not in the base game, but really a distinction without a difference.

It might depend on where the concentration of civ gamers are in the world too.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Coincidently a number of Maya also lived/live in present-day Mexico too.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Coincidently a number of Maya also lived/live in present-day Mexico too.

And, a not insignificant factor is that new discoveries from LIDAR and other advanced techniques regarding the Mayan states have been in the news recently, and Free Publicity never hurts . . .

 

[BackseatTyrant]

I do funnily enough find modern Sweden to also gaining popularity for pop culture reasons: ABBA, IKEA, PewDiePie, Greta Thunberg, surstromming, smorgasbord etc. not even mentioning the connections of Paradox gaming, just to name a few.
That being said I did enjoy their unique gameplay style with the Nobel Prize competition only being available if they are in the game. However, I wouldn't mind it if the diplomatic cultural gameplay was taken over by another civ in Civ 7, such as Austria or Italy.

Personally, I would rather have Sweden's unique ability revolve more explicitly arund science & culture, solidifying its status as basically "the Korea of Europe"

 

[GeneralZift]

Furniture civilisation

 

[Roman Citizen]

Predicting we are going to get 25 civs at launch and 60 civs total when all the expansions come.

 

[Tecumseh1]

For America I think MLK would be great and better than Roosevelt again

 

[AffineConstant]

Furniture civilisation

Unique Building: Ikea, is made available to all civs in the game, gives 1 extra gold per turn than a normal market but gives Sweden +1 gold per turn for each one built.

 

[Caesar of Bread]

For America I think MLK would be great and better than Roosevelt again

We're probably not getting Teddy for Civ VII. Also I'd be very happy to see MLK as America's civ leader.

 

[jsciv69]

We're probably not getting Teddy for Civ VII. Also I'd be very happy to see MLK as America's civ leader.

If the teaser is any indication, it looks like it's going to be the return of Abraham Lincoln.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

If the teaser is any indication, it looks like it's going to be the return of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln is probably the least controversial option in the current American political climate, so I would have pegged him as the leading candidate if he hadn't appeared in a late Civ 6 DLC. Since he did, the door's open for the return of George Washington, or maybe we'll see Thomas Jefferson.

 

[AffineConstant]

We're probably not getting Teddy for Civ VII. Also I'd be very happy to see MLK as America's civ leader.

MLK would be a great person, I definitely can't see an entirely unelected non politician non official being chosen at the "leader" of a democracy.

 

[GeneralZift]

Not being a hater, but if Gandhi and others are constantly berated for not being head-of-state and being Leaders, why is MLK considered permitted?
IF we are accepting of MLK, we should also accept Gandhi, Gilgamesh, Joanne d'Arc, and other suggestions and implementations of fictional, non-leaders and other types of characters as Civ heads in my opinion. Even King Arthur.

I will say one thing, America is not well known for its Civil Rights, more like the opposite.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Not being a hater, but if Gandhi and others are constantly berated for not being head-of-state and being Leaders, why is MLK considered permitted?
IF we are accepting of MLK, we should also accept Gandhi, Gilgamesh, Joanne d'Arc, and other suggestions and implementations of fictional, non-leaders and other types of characters as Civ heads in my opinion. Even King Arthur.

Well, most people believe that Gilgamesh was actually a historical king. He's only berated because everything we "know" about him is only from the mythologized Epic of Gilgamesh.

 

[Willie5000]

Predicting we are going to get 25 civs at launch and 60 civs total when all the expansions come.

25 would be a lot considering they have to create and animate all those leader models. Realistically anything from 18-20 civs at launch is a better bet.

 

[GeoGeo]

Wanted to get a prediction in while we're still totally in the dark.

I'm operating off the following insights:

1. It's now been over 30 years since Civ 1, meaning there's a lot of legacy content to look back on
2. Between point 1 and how in vogue nostalgia has become, we could see some straying from the "new" part of the usual Rule of Thirds (at least for Civs and leaders)
3. Along with more time having passed, there's a relative lack of 20th-century leaders in the series.
4. Firaxis is not immune from meme propaganda.

With that in mind, I'm breaking my predictions up by when each leader joined the series.

From Civ 1:
India - Gandhi (Because this is the prediction thread. I'll discover uranium under my house before Firaxis retires Gandhi.)
Mongolia - Genghis Khan
Britain - Queen Elizabeth I
Greece - Alexander (I imagine the approach to leaders won't be quite as biographical as in Civ 6, plus Alexander ruling Greece is the traditional approach.)

From Civ 2:
Egypt - Cleopatra (As of a few years ago, the logo for the series as a whole is her side profile. Cleo's not going anywhere.)
France - Joan of Arc

From Civ 3:
Sumeria - Gilgamesh ("Gilgabro" was pretty well-loved in Civ 6 on a fandom level.)
Portugal - Henry the Navigator

From Civ 4
Ottomans - Suleiman
Mali - Mansa Musa

Civ V:
Arabia - Harun al Rashid
Shoshone - Poccatello (A "safe" American Indian/First Nations pick that fills out TSL maps better than the Iroquois. It's hard to say who Firaxis can work with.)

Civ VI:
China - Yongle (Firaxis is very happy with how players reacted to him.)
Gran Colombia - Simon Bolivar
Maya - Lady Six Sky

Civ VII (Old Civs)
Germany - Helmut Kohl (Yes, a dark horse prediction, and a totally new approach to Germany. This is one of two leaders I've included to push the boundaries on recency.)
America - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Japan - Emperor Meiji (Is it kosher to depict him or not? I couldn't find anything to the contrary. If he's not, pretend I said Emperor Kammu.)
Rome - Marcus Aurelius

Civ VII (New Civs)
South Africa - Nelson Mandela (Another recent historical figure. Pop-culturally famous, and the kind of leader that I think would be chosen if Civilization had been made for the first time today. I'd expect Shaka and the Zulu to return later on.
Tui Tongo - Momo (A new standard bearer for the Wayfinder playstyle of Kamehameha and Kupe.)
Kievan Rus - Yaroslav (This is my best guess at how Firaxis will deal with the Russia/Ukraine issue.)


Of course, there are a lot of great new and old candidates I've left out. 22 launch Civs is already pushing it. I'm sure I way underestimated the number of new Civs, but oh well. Will be fun to see what we all got wrong starting tomorrow.