Civilization 7 VR Will Be a Meta Quest 3 Exclusive, Hopefully with Better UI Than On Steam

Sid Meier's Civilization VII: A VR Revolution on Meta Quest 3

Civilization VII (Civ VII) is making its VR debut this Spring 2025, exclusively on Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsets. This marks the franchise's first foray into virtual and mixed reality gaming, as announced by 2K Games and Firaxis Games at the Civ World Summit on February 8, 2025.

Dennis Shirk, Executive Franchise Producer, expressed excitement about launching Civ VII into a "new era of strategy excellence." Meta's Chris Pruett, Director of Games, highlighted the timing, calling it "an awesome time for mixed reality," and emphasizing Civ VII VR as a "genuine Civ experience" tailored for dedicated strategy players. Note that while Civ VII is releasing on PlayStation consoles, a PSVR2 version is not currently planned.

Immersive Gameplay and Multiplayer Options

Civ VII VR immerses players in a command table interface, allowing them to strategically manage their empire from various perspectives – a bird's-eye view or up close examination of details, mimicking a tabletop game experience. The game seamlessly transitions between virtual and mixed reality modes. 2K Games describes the VR experience as being set within "an ornate museum," while the mixed reality version adapts to the player's physical space.

Single-player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer modes are supported, with up to four players able to engage simultaneously using Meta Quest 3 or 3S headsets. Players can team up against AI opponents or compete directly against each other. Online multiplayer necessitates a 2K and Meta account.

Addressing Player Feedback and Future Updates

Firaxis Games is actively addressing player feedback gathered during Civ VII's early access period (February 6, 2025, for Deluxe and Founder's Editions). The team acknowledged concerns regarding the user interface (UI), citing mixed Steam reviews. Their roadmap includes significant UI improvements, focusing on intuitiveness, map readability, and overall polish.

Further updates will incorporate community-requested features such as team-based multiplayer, expanded map types, and more. A quality-of-life update is slated for March, addressing UI adjustments, AI balancing, diplomacy refinements, and bug fixes.

Civilization VII VR's release is anticipated for Spring 2025 on Meta Quest 3 and 3S. The standard Civ VII launches worldwide on February 11, 2025, across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more details, visit our Civilization VII page.