Fans are still divided on whether Civilization 7 is a worthy entry in the popular strategy series. Its direct predecessor, on the other hand, remains popular and is currently saving you a lot of money.
We’re talking about Civilization 6: The 4X strategy game from Firaxis was released in October 2016, making it somewhat older. However, looking at player reviews on Steam, the title is still more popular than Civilization 7, which only launched in February 2025.
Civ 6 has over 264,000 reviews on Steam, with 85% of them being positive. In comparison, Civ 7 has nearly 37,000 on Steam, but only 47% are positive. Civilization 7 wanted to become the best strategy game of 2025, but for many fans, it was the disappointment of the year.
This is also reflected in the player numbers. The predecessor is still played by significantly more people on Steam today:
- Civ 6 reached a peak of 36,259 concurrent players on Steam within the last 24 hours (as of November 4, 1:41 PM, according to steamdb.info).
- During the same period, only 7,480 players played Civ 7 simultaneously (according to steamdb.info).
When asked which of the two games one should consider buying, the answer in most cases is Civ 6. The game is still on our list of the best strategy games of 2025. However, it has received so many expansions that you will have to spend quite a bit for the complete package — just over €200 without discounts.
Under €20 for more than 1,000 hours of gameplay
Right now, you can save a lot of money: Civ 6 is heavily discounted as part of the current Firaxis developer sale on Steam. The most interesting is the Civ 6 Anthology – it costs only €15.80 and includes all DLCs.
Included are, among others:
- the major expansions
Rise and Fall
andGathering Storm
, which introduce new mechanics such as Golden (or Dark) Ages and environmental disasters - civilization packs that add numerous new playable factions like Poland, Australia, Portugal, and many more (some with special scenarios)
- The Leader Pass, which provides 12 brand new leaders and revises 6 known ones
Overall, you get a lot of content for your money here. You can still have fun in Civ 6 even after 1,000 hours. One player has even surpassed 10,000 hours before writing a Steam review – he actually recommends the game.
Purchasing the Anthology Bundle is worthwhile even if you already own the base game and some of the DLCs. These will be automatically deducted from the price. So not only newcomers benefit, but also everyone who wants to complete their collection.
As Civilization 7 is still polarizing today, many fans stick with the predecessor – or look for alternatives. One such alternative could have been Millennia. In October, however, the developers announced the final update. More on this in this article: A strategy game could have been the alternative to the mixed Civilization VII, but after 18 months the developers are giving up.
