The latest Civilization VII update 1.2.4 has gone live across all platforms, focusing on refining gameplay systems and addressing long-standing community feedback. The update brings a significant round of Wonder rebalancing, introducing new placement conditions, buffs, and nerfs to ensure more strategic diversity. Players will notice changes such as relaxed restrictions on the Pyramids and adjusted mechanics for terrain-enhancing Wonders like Petra, alongside adjustments that balance must-pick Wonders like Gate of All Nations.
Beyond Wonders, the patch introduces sweeping improvements to Age Transitions, advisors, and AI behavior. Alliances now carry over more smoothly, advisor warnings have been refined, and AI leaders now display smarter diplomacy and military strategies. Camera and controller input have also been improved for smoother gameplay, while bug fixes cover economy, military actions, UI adjustments, narrative events, and audio enhancements.
Full Patch Notes
Wonder Balance
- Adjusted unlock locations for Wonders for better progression flow.
- Expanded placement conditions: e.g., relaxed Desert restriction for Pyramids, added Grassland Mountains for Machu Pikchu.
- Nerfed must-pick Wonders such as Gate of All Nations and House of Wisdom.
- Buffed numerous Wonders to increase their strategic appeal.
- Fixed issues where terrain-enhancing Wonders lost their effects when improvements were built over them.
- Full list includes changes across Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Age Wonders, with reworks to Petra, Oracle, Forbidden City, Machu Pikchu, Eiffel Tower, and more.
Gameplay
- Advisor warnings reworked: tech and civics trailing alerts removed for higher difficulties, Wonder competition alerts expanded to all Ages.
- New advisor warning added for unassigned Codexes.
- Alliances now persist through Age Transitions when Continuity setting is active.
- More gold and influence carried over during transitions.
AI Improvements
- Smarter trade logic and peace deal handling.
- Better transition of Independents into City-States.
- AI leaders no longer break alliances immediately upon forming them.
- Enhanced naval pathfinding to avoid unnecessary ship damage.
- Aggressively pursues victory projects in later stages.
Camera & Controls
- Edge-panning option restored for mouse users.
- Controller navigation improved for smoother camera and map interactions.
Diplomacy & Economy
- Fixed inaccuracies in Civilopedia descriptions of war weariness.
- Corrected War Support calculations during surprise wars.
- Adjusted yields and building conditions for specific Wonders and structures.
Military
- Fixed targeting issues with Defensive Perimeter and ranged attacks during Focus Fire.
- Improved Commander abilities and reinforcement handling during Age Transitions.
- Corrected unit sight and movement bugs in multiplayer.
- Balanced various promotions and ability effects.
UI and Civilopedia
- Fixed spacing, alignment, and missing gameplay info in leader menus.
- Resolved controller-specific UI issues and prompt errors.
- Updated numerous tooltips and text inconsistencies.
Narrative & Events
- Corrected broken event triggers and reward tooltips.
- Adjusted yields, conditions, and quest progress tracking for multiple narrative events.
Audio
- Added new SFX for narrative rewards and multiplayer notifications.
- Improved localization, narration, and quality-of-life across leader and UI audio.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It launched on February 11, 2025, for Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, followed by a Nintendo Switch 2 release on June 5, 2025.
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