Civilization VII Update 1.5.1 Introduces Liberation, Reworks Great People, and Adds Map Search

Firaxis Games has released Sid Meier’s Civilization VII update 1.5.1 across all platforms, introducing several gameplay changes and quality-of-life improvements. The update adds Liberation to the Diplomacy system, allowing players to return conquered Settlements to their original owners or restore them as City-States. Two new map types, Randomized Earth and Donut, have also been introduced, alongside new Unit List and Map Search panels that make managing large empires easier.

The patch also reworks Great People, removing them from City Production queues and allowing players to unlock them automatically by meeting civilisation-specific requirements. Additional improvements include multiplayer pausing, changes to map generation, updated game year progression, and various interface fixes. Firaxis has also confirmed that active mods will be disabled after installing the update, while development continues on the upcoming Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise updates.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Update 1.5.1 Patch Notes

Diplomacy Changes

• Added Liberation as a new diplomatic option when conquering a Settlement or acquiring one through a Peace Deal.

  • Players can now choose to Keep, Raze, or Liberate eligible Settlements.
  • Liberation allows Settlements to be returned to their original founding civilisation, provided that civilisation is not the current enemy.
  • Liberating a Settlement provides a diplomatic relationship boost with its original owner.
  • Settlements originally founded by City-States can be restored as City-States if the player was previously their Suzerain.
  • Restoring a City-State also restores the player’s previous Suzerain bonus.
• Losing a City-State now removes its associated Suzerain bonus.

  • This applies when a City-State is conquered, incorporated, or otherwise lost.
  • One-time bonuses, such as free Units or Technologies, are not removed when the City-State is lost.
  • These one-time bonuses do not activate again when the City-State is liberated.
• Fixed Harriet Tubman’s relationship notifications triggering incorrectly when declaring a Formal War after another leader had been eliminated.

New Maps and Map Generation

• Added the Randomized Earth map type.

  • Uses an Earth-inspired geographical layout.
  • Randomises Resources, Rivers, Wonders, and other map elements.
  • Supports True Start Locations for civilisations.
  • Also supports standard random starting locations.
  • Includes rare hidden easter eggs.
• Added the Donut map type.

  • Features a Pangaea-style landmass on a square map.
  • Includes an internal ocean and an external ocean.
  • Both oceans contain Distant Land islands.
  • The two oceans do not normally connect, although certain rivers, lakes, and Settlement placements can create water connections.
• Added an option to use random starting locations on the TSL Earth map.
• Improved Voronoi map generation and rendering across the world wrap.

  • Continental shapes now feature more varied coastlines, natural bays, and isthmuses.
• Improved the Map Type selection interface during game creation.

  • Map types are now organised into collapsible categories.
• Updated volcanoes on the TSL Earth map to use geographically accurate names.
• Hides now appear only during the Antiquity Age on TSL Earth.
• Independent Powers’ Naval Units no longer enter Ocean Marine tiles during the Antiquity Age.
• Fixed an issue where additional player slots did not immediately appear when creating games on Huge maps.

Great People Rework

• Reworked the Great People system to use civilisation-specific gameplay requirements.
• Removed Great People from City Production queues.
• Great People are now awarded automatically when players meet their respective unlock conditions.
• Each civilisation has unique requirements based on its gameplay characteristics.
• Updated Great People descriptions to explain their unlock requirements.

  • Requirements can be viewed during game setup.
  • Requirements are also displayed on loading screens.
  • Additional information is available in the in-game details panel.
• Updated Abbasid Great People:

  • Al-Jāḥiẓ now provides one free purchase of the Menagerie when activated.
  • Ibn Sina now provides one free purchase of the Hospital when activated.
  • Al-Farghānī now provides one free purchase of the Observatory when activated.
• Added notifications when players acquire Great People.
• Added notifications when players obtain the final available Great Person of a particular type.
• Updated the Siamese Great Person Chakrabongse.

  • Chakrabongse must now be expended on a foreign Capital or Palace.
  • Activation grants 500 Influence.

New Unit List Panel

• Added a Unit List panel that displays all Units belonging to the player’s empire.
• The panel can be accessed through a button above the minimap.
• Controller players can access the Unit List through the Radial Menu.
• Added options to search and sort Units.
• The Unit List displays:

  • Unit health.
  • Remaining movement.
  • Unit Tier.
  • Time remaining to Reinforce.
  • Commander respawn time.
• Players can issue basic commands directly from the Unit List:

  • Sleep.
  • Alert.
  • Upgrade.
• Selecting a Unit from the list allows players to locate it on the map and access its full range of actions.

New Map Search Panel

• Added a Map Search panel accessible from the top of the minimap.
• Players can search for various elements across the visible map.
• Supported searches include:

  • Tiles.
  • Units.
  • Buildings.
  • Other searchable map elements.
• Search results are highlighted on the map.
• Added a secondary search bar for filtering results.
• Added a helper interface that organises searchable elements by type.
• Additional improvements to Map Search are planned for future updates.

Military Changes

• Updated WMD Strike notifications to explicitly identify which War type will begin when launching nuclear strikes against multiple players.
• Fixed the WMD Strike blast radius preview not expanding correctly after completing Operation Ivy.

Multiplayer Improvements

• Added the ability to pause multiplayer games with turn timers enabled.
• Players can pause through the game menu.
• Added the [ keyboard shortcut for pausing multiplayer games.

Gameplay and General Improvements

• Added a Discovery filter that allows players to enable the Scout Lens and highlight Discoveries without using a Scout.
• Updated the appearance of urban districts built on Vegetated tiles to make their terrain characteristics clearer.
• Fixed Wonders being removed from a Settlement’s Production Queue when construction began on an adjacent Wonder tile.
• Updated Game Year Progression calculations.

  • Recalibrated the time between turns for each Age to better reflect its actual duration.
  • Slowed the progression of time during end-of-Age Crises.
  • Corrected month calculations when individual turns represent less than one year.
• Fixed water textures not displaying correctly for the Kabaka’s Lake Unique Improvement.

Leader and Civilisation Fixes

• Fixed an issue preventing players from skipping First Meet cinematics.
• Addressed animation delays affecting Ashoka.
• Fixed various text issues involving Ashoka.
• Addressed animation delays and text issues affecting Ibn Battuta.
• Fixed England incorrectly displaying Edward Teach and Ada Lovelace as unlock requirements for players who did not own those DLC leaders.
• Fixed the Exploration Age English City Hall model appearing when playing Time-Tested England during the Antiquity Age.

UI and UX Improvements

• Fixed Unit icons remaining visible on City Banners after Unit Production was completed.
• Players can now click a Unit’s portrait to centre the camera on that Unit.
• Updated the City Screen so the Repair All option appears even when only one tile is damaged.
• Fixed the Commander Unit icon disappearing after renaming a Commander.
• Fixed Narrative Choice and Discovery Choice Turn Advancer notifications not appearing correctly while certain lenses were active.
• Fixed Yield Previews incorrectly deducting natural Production Yields twice when calculating placement Yields in the Production Menu.

  • Building placement Yield Previews should now be more accurate.
• Added a new Toggle Details hotkey for mouse and keyboard users.

Mod Compatibility and Save Information

• All active mods are automatically disabled when installing update 1.5.1.
• Players can manually reactivate compatible mods through the Add-ons menu.
• Some new abilities and effects may not appear in existing save files.
• Starting a new game is recommended to experience all changes.
• Steam players can continue previous-version saves through the legacy beta branch.

  • Open the game’s Properties menu in Steam.
  • Navigate to the Betas tab.
  • Select the legacy branch.

Upcoming Updates

• Firaxis Games continues development on Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise.
• Selected players will be able to test upcoming features through the Firaxis Feature Workshop.
• Additional information about these major updates will be shared later.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII was released on February 10, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The game was developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K.

Have you noticed these changes? Share your thoughts in the comments!