"Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick Excited About Civilization 7 Despite High Play Rates of Civ 6 and 5 on Steam"

The launch of *Civilization 7* on Steam has been rocky, to say the least. Since its debut in February, the strategy game has struggled to attract players on Valve's platform, earning a 'mixed' reaction from Steam user reviews. Despite several patches from developer Firaxis aimed at improving the game, *Civilization 7* currently boasts fewer players on Steam than its predecessors, *Civilization 6* and the 15-year-old *Civilization 5*.

While *Civ 7*'s performance on Steam is concerning, it's important to note that the game also launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version featuring new Joy-Con mouse controls on the horizon. Nonetheless, the PC platform remains the core market for the *Civilization* series, and it's here that *Civ 7* is evidently facing challenges.

In an interview with IGN ahead of Take-Two's latest financial results, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed his satisfaction with *Civ 7*, stating, "I'm thrilled with *Civ 7* so far." He acknowledged initial issues but praised Firaxis for their efforts in addressing them, adding, "There's more work to be done. I'm optimistic that work will be done and will suit consumers, and ultimately that we have a very successful title on our hands."

Zelnick highlighted the *Civilization* franchise's history of long sales cycles and his belief that *Civ 7* would follow this pattern. He noted, "The history of all the *Civilization* releases is that initially some of the changes that we make cause consternation among our consumers because they love the *Civilization* franchise so much. And then people realize, oh, this really is an improvement and over a long sales cycle, we do really well. I think that's what'll happen here too. But undoubtedly, we had some issues in the beginning, which we've addressed partially and continue to address."

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At launch, players criticized *Civ 7* for issues with the user interface, a lack of map variety, and missing features they had come to expect from the series. Zelnick's comments on the initial nervousness of hardcore *Civ* players likely refer to the significant changes Firaxis introduced. Notably, a full campaign in *Civilization 7* spans three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. During an Age Transition, players select a new civilization, choose which Legacies to retain, and witness the game world evolve—a novel system for the series. Zelnick is confident that fans will grow to appreciate this innovation over time.

Take-Two has not disclosed specific sales figures for *Civilization 7*, but their financial report mentioned efforts to "pursue opportunities to expand the audience," such as the recent release of *Civilization 7 VR* for Meta Quest 3 and 3S, and the upcoming port for Nintendo Switch 2.