Sid Meier's Civilization VII Charts a Course to 2027 With Arc of Tomorrow Update and Earthrise Expansion

Firaxis Games and 2K celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Civilization franchise at PAX West 2026 on Saturday by revealing the next chapter for Sid Meier's Civilization VII, including the strategy's first paid expansion and a major free update that adds an entirely new era to the campaign.

During a developer panel at the Seattle Convention Center's Blue Dragon Theatre, creative director Ed Beach, lead producer Tom Shaw, and game director Matt Owens laid out a Civilization VII roadmap running into 2027. Update 1.5.0 ships later this month with the long-requested True Start Location: Earth map, two refreshed Voronoi-based map types, faster map loading, diplomacy changes that let Influence keep a civilization out of an ally's wars, and a slate of UI polish. The free Arc of Tomorrow update then arrives in 2027 and introduces the Atomic Age, a fourth playable era spanning roughly the 1950s through the 2050s, with new buildings, units, civilizations, leaders, visuals, music, social policies, narrative events, manufactured goods like Enriched Uranium, and Great Works of Film. Mahatma Gandhi also returns as a playable leader when Arc of Tomorrow lands, and Firaxis is opening sign-ups for the Firaxis Feature Workshop playtest later this year.

Later in 2027, Sid Meier's Civilization VII: Earthrise will arrive as the strategy's first paid expansion. Earthrise runs from the Antiquity Age through the Atomic Age and is built around the space race. Players will research the night sky and name celestial bodies in the early Ages, launch orbital missions around Earth and the Moon in the Modern Age, and establish their own space agency to explore the solar system in the Atomic Age, feeding resources back into their civilization on the ground. The expansion also adds Environmental Adaptability, with new unit abilities, terrain-changing technologies, and civil engineering structures designed to counter natural disasters and global warming, including the ability to reverse warming itself.

Earthrise's release date and pricing have not been announced, and 2K says more details will arrive in the coming months. Both Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise will release on the platforms Civilization VII already supports: PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Mac, and Linux.

The full announcement, including Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise feature lists, is on the official Sid Meier's Civilization VII 35th Anniversary news page, and 2K has the matching press release on the 2K Newsroom. The PAX West developer panel is also available to rewatch on the Civilization YouTube channel.