Civilization is a franchise composed primarily of a series of turn-based strategy video games and associated media. The core of the franchise is a series of six titles for personal computers, released between 1991 and 2016. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of its sequels. The official titles of the series, core games, and most spin-offs include his name, as in Sid Meier's Civilization. In addition to the main titles, the franchise includes multiple expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered a formulative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

The first game in the series, Civilization (1991), was created by MicroProse co-founder Meier and Bruce Shelley. MicroProse continued the series for several years, producing Civilization II (1996) as well as a spin-off title, Sid Meier's Colonization (1994). Business changes after the consolidation of the company in 1996 with Spectrum HoloByte, which bought MicroProse in 1993, resulted in Meier leaving the company to found Firaxis Games in 1996. Firaxis created a spin-off title, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999), but did not have the rights to the "Civilization" name. MicroProse did not produce any further games in the series beyond licensing the name to Activision for the spin-off Civilization: Call to Power (1999) before being purchased by Hasbro Interactive in 1998. Hasbro Interactive, along with the "Civilization" brand, was in turn purchased by Infogrames in 2001, who licensed the name to Firaxis for Civilization III (2001). The rights to the franchise were sold in 2004, however, to Take-Two Interactive, which licensed it to Firaxis again for Civilization IV (2005) just before acquiring Firaxis itself in 2005. Firaxis has since served as the primary developer and Take-Two the sole publisher for the franchise, producing main-series games Civilization V (2010) and Civilization VI (2016) along with seven spin-off titles, including console and mobile versions of the franchise in Civilization Revolution (2008) and titles such as Civilization: Beyond Earth (2014).

In addition to video games, the franchise includes several board games, artbooks, and music albums. The first board game, Civilization: The Boardgame (2002), corresponds with Civilization III, while the second game by that name (2010) is based on Civilization IV, and the latest, Civilization: A New Dawn (2017), is based on Civilization VI. A card game, created by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson and based on that game, was included with the Civilization Chronicles (2006) compilation. Books containing concept art and commentary for Civilization V and VI have been included in special editions of the game. Music CDs were included with the special editions of Civilization IV and V; digital albums have been sold for Civilization VI and its expansion, as well as for Civilization: Beyond Earth and its expansions. The Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals-winning theme song for IV, "Baba Yetu", was included in composer Christopher Tin's album Calling All Dawns, while the theme song for VI, "Sogno di Volare", has been released as a single by Tin and included in his album To Shiver the Sky.

Video games

Main series

Other games

Tabletop games + TitleRelease dateTypeRef. Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame 2002 Board game Created by Glenn Drover and published by Eagle Games Based on Civilization III Sid Meier's Civilization: The Card Game 2006 Card game Created by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson and published by Firaxis Games Included solely in the Civilization Chronicles (2006) compilation Based on Civilization IV Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game 2010 Board game Created by Kevin Wilson and published by Fantasy Flight Games Based on Civilization IV Two expansions produced: Sid Meier's Civilization: Fame and Fortune (2011) and Sid Meier's Civilization: Wisdom and Warfare (2013) Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn 2017 Board game Created by James Kniffen and published by Fantasy Flight Games Based on Civilization VI

Books + TitleRelease dateMedia typeRef. Alpha Centauri: Power of the Mindworms January 13, 2000 Graphic novel Written by Steve Darnall, illustrated by Rafael Kayanan and published by NBM Publishing Company Depicts events early in a game of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri 48 pages Centauri Dawn / Dragon Sun / Twilight of the Mind November 28, 2000 / August 28, 2001 / January 29, 2002 Books Written by Alpha Centauris story developer Michael Ely and published by Simon & Schuster Novelization trilogy of Alpha Centauri 304 / 277 / 288 pages / / GURPS Alpha Centauri December 15, 2002 Sourcebook Written by Jon F. Zeigler and published by Steve Jackson Games Rulebook for using the Alpha Centauri setting in the GURPS role-playing system 128 pages The Chronicles of Civilization October 25, 2006 Book Published by 2K Games Interviews and concept art 96 pages Included with the Civilization Chronicles compilation Sid Meier's Civilization V: The Art of The Game September 21, 2010 Concept art Published by 2K Games Concept art and commentary on Civilization V 162 pages Included with the "Special Edition" of the game Sid Meier's Civilization: Civilization Through the Years October 21, 2016 Concept art Published by 2K Games Concept art and commentary on the series 100 pages Included with the "25th Anniversary Edition" of Civilization VI

Music

+ TitleRelease dateRelease typeRef. Sid Meier's Civilization IV Official Soundtrack October 24, 2005 Album Composed primarily by Jeff Briggs and Christopher Tin for Civilization IV Published by Take-Two Interactive; included solely with the special edition of the game 18 tracks on a single disc with a duration of 1:09:48 The theme song, "Baba Yetu", won a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals and was included in Tin's album Calling All Dawns Sid Meier's Civilization V Official Soundtrack September 21, 2010 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Michael Curran for Civilization V Published by 2K Games; included solely with the special edition of the game 33 tracks on two discs with a duration of 2:37:14 Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth October 24, 2014 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization: Beyond Earth Published by 2K Games as a digital album 42 tracks with a duration of 2:47:22 Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide September 29, 2015 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide Published by 2K Games as a digital album 29 tracks with a duration of 2:03:05 Sogno di Volare (Civilization VI Main Theme) October 20, 2016 Single Composed by Christopher Tin for Civilization VI Published by Tin Works Publishing as a digital single Contains full version of the song and shortened version used in game intro, with a duration of 6:38 Included in Tin's album To Shiver the Sky (2019) Sid Meier's Civilization VI Original Game Soundtrack October 21, 2016 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization VI Published by 2K Games as a digital album 38 tracks with a duration of 2:24:09 Expanded version titled Sid Meier's Civilization 25th Anniversary Soundtrack included with Digital Deluxe Edition and 25th Anniversary Editions of the game Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Rise & Fall Original Game Soundtrack February 8, 2018 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo for Civilization VI: Rise and Fall Published by 2K Games as a digital album 33 tracks with a duration of 2:14:40 Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Original Game Soundtrack February 14, 2019 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo for Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Published by 2K Games as a digital album 33 tracks with a duration of 1:57:00 Sid Meier's Civilization VII: Original Game Soundtrack February 11, 2025 Album Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo for Civilization VII Published by 2K Games as a digital album 45 tracks with a duration of 3:41:00 Released on four vinyl discs by Laced Records in 2025

References

External links Official website