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Civilization VII: Patch Notes - August 19, 2025

PUBLISHED:
UPDATED:

Update 1.2.4 is rolling out now to all platforms! As we work toward some larger changes and new features, this update focuses on steady improvements: further improving Age Transitions, rebalancing Wonders, adding more quality-of-life touches, and tidying things up with a round of addressed issues. 

A few quick notes before you dive in:

  • While we aim to maintain backwards compatibility for existing saves as much as possible, some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign. For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age.
  • If you encounter any new issues, try disabling any mods, as some may not yet be compatible with the latest update.
  • Are you playing on Steam and want to finish your current save under a previous version? You can do so using our legacy Steam beta branch.

Gameplay

  • Advisors
    • (★ – Community Influenced Item) Made several improvements to Advisor Warnings, including:
      • "Trailing in Technology" and "Trailing in Civics" warnings no longer occur at Difficulty Levels of Sovereign and above.
      • Made updates to "Competing Wonder" warning, including:
        • Warning now appears in all Ages (not just Antiquity).
        • Clicking "Take Me There" moves you to the other player's copy of the Wonder if possible.
      • Added new Advisor Warning: "Codex with a potential home but not assigned one." This is a variant of the existing warning "Codex with no Home."
  • Age Transition Improvements
    • (★) Alliances are now kept on Age Transition when playing on the Continuity setting.
    • (★) More Gold/Influence is now carried over when playing on the Continuity setting.
      • Dev note: We are aware of balance concerns around the Continuity setting and are looking into changes across the game that can be made to help smooth out the experience for players.
  • AI
    • Trade with AI no longer fails due to assigning a Resource it thought it could.
    • AI now focuses more on transitioning Independents into City-States.
    • AI now has more reasonable logic in the Peace Deal menu.
    • Higher Difficulty AI no longer builds a functional duplicate wall on the same tile when the AI captures another Settlement.
    • AI leaders no longer accept an alliance if they will have to break it immediately, such as being at war with one of their allies.
    • Independent Power AI no longer fails to move their Units until provoked.
    • AI players now aggressively pursue final Victory Projects and Wonders after completing Legacy Paths.
    • AI will now properly favor Coastal tiles when available when navigating the Ocean to avoid ship damage.
  • Age Transition
    • Spain is now properly unlocked with Lafayette when transitioning to the Exploration Age.
    • Mongolia is now properly unlocked after Age Transition when playing as one of Mongolia's recommended Leaders.
    • [Right to Rule DLC] During Advanced Start, Genghis Khan no longer receives policies from the Han and Ming civs as they are not recommended civilizations.
  • Camera Improvements
    • (★) Added an edge-panning option for platforms with mouse input.
      • Dev note: We heard those of you who prefer edge-panning instead of click-drag or keyboard map navigation, so we brought it back. Keep the feedback coming!
    • Reworked controller input to significantly improve the feel of camera movement and plot selection, especially when trying to navigate larger distances across the map.
  • Diplomacy
    • Updated Civilopedia to reflect that War Weariness effect does not stack Happiness penalty when engaging in multiple wars.
    • Independent Powers are now only able to pillage a tile within range of a Unit that has no Enemy Units and the defenses fully damaged.
    • Leaders now receive the correct amount of War Support when a surprise war is declared.
  • Economy
    • Brihadeeswarar Temple no longer fails to provide Happiness bonus when the player builds a Building near a Navigable River in the Modern Age.
    • Tiles no longer lose their Happiness Yield from appeal when placing a Rural Improvement on them.
    • Blacksmith Building moved to Military Training Tech.
  • Military
    • Players will no longer need to choose a target when clicking the Defensive Perimeter button in the Commander Lens.
    • Units that use a Ranged attack during Focus Fire will no longer have Movement queued to the targeted tile on the next turn.
    • Units that are in the process of reinforcing a Commander when the Age Transition occurs now immediately complete their Reinforce action, and the Units of defeated players are now completely cleared and not allowed to spawn after the transition.
    • The "Zeal" Commander Promotion now states that the +5% bonus does not apply to Happiness Yields.
    • Commanders now receive the respective abilities after completing the Shipbuilding and Cartography Technologies when the Commanders are respawning.
    • Automate Exploration can now be used when a Scout is within range of a "Ruin" during Modern Gameplay.
    • The Heroic Assault ability now properly deals 50 damage to hostile Units while using the ability with a normal Army Commander.
    • Army Commander's "Scorched Earth" ability will no longer be available to use when there is nothing to pillage.
    • In multiplayer games, the Scout Unit's sight will no longer be lost when using the "Lookout" ability when the turn progress changes to "Please Wait" and it still has Movement.
    • Hybrid Infantry units with Ranged attack will no longer receive damage when Army Commander uses Focus Fire ability.
    • Overrun can no longer bypass Cliff movement restrictions when using an Army Commander without the Mobility promotion.
    • Ranged Units can no longer attack an invalid target when an Army Commander uses the Focus Fire ability.
    • Addressed a rare reported issue where a previously defeated, unmet leader could reappear after an Age Transition, triggering repeated First Meet interactions and blocking progress.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Shipbuilding tech now mentions that Support and Civilian Units can safely travel across the Ocean terrain without taking damage.
    • Reduced spam of countdown message, which now appears only once when the player enters the next turn.
    • The "Confirm the reset" popup now properly appears when selecting the "Reset" button in the Advanced Options menu.
    • "Age Unlock" information is no longer missing from some leaders when creating a new game.
  • Religion & Ideology
    • Added icons on the Leader Ribbon that appear after Founding a Religion in Exploration or Joining an Ideology in Modern.
      • The Ideology icons for other leaders now appear Green or Red to indicate whether they share your Ideology.
        • Dev note: This should make it easier to see which leaders have joined each Ideology – an important factor when choosing an Ideology or deciding which leaders to target for Settlements to progress toward the Ideology Legacy Path in Modern.
      • Religion Icons will reflect your Religion's chosen icon and name (including custom name).
  • Wonder Balance
    • Antiquity Age Wonders
      • [Crossroads of the World DLC] Byrsa
        • Moved to Engineering Tech.
      • Colossus
        • Changed cost from 450 Production to 375.
        • Moved to Currency Tech.
      • Dur-Sharrukin
        • Added "+1 Science on Fortifications in this Settlement."
        • Increased Combat bonus from +3 to +5.
      • Emile Bell
        • Added base Yield of 2 Influence.
        • Changed Ginseng Agreement from affecting only Capitals to both players' Cities.
        • Ginseng Agreement now increases Relationship more, 10 for Accept and 25 for Support.
        • Changed cost from 275 Production to 375.
        • Moved to Citizenship Civic.
      • Gate of All Nations
        • Added base Yield of 2 Happiness.
        • Decreases War Support from 2 to 1.
      • Great Stele
        • Added base Yield of 2 Production.
        • Changed effect to apply to Wonders built in any Settlement.
        • Adjusted text to accurately reflect that Gold scales per Age.
        • Moved to Mysticism Civic Mastery.
      • Ha'amonga 'a Maui
        • Changed placement restrictions to allow any biome.
      • [Right to Rule DLC] Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
        • Added base Yield of 3 Production.
        • Increased cost from 275 Production to 450.
        • Moved to Iron Working Tech.
      • Mundo Perdido
        • Changed effect to "+1 Science on Improvements and +1 Happiness on Districts on Tropical Terrain in this Settlement."
        • Increased cost from 275 Production to 375.
        • Moved to Code of Laws Civic Mastery.
      • Oracle
        • Increased bonus Culture from Narrative Events from 10 to 20 per Age.
        • Added 1 Wildcard Attribute Point.
        • We have plans in the works for this Wonder, so stay tuned!
      • Petra
        • Changed effect to "+1 Production on Improvements and +1 Gold on Districts on Desert Terrain in this Settlement."
      • Pyramids
        • Changed effect to "+1 Gold and Production on Improvements and Districts on Minor and Navigable River tiles in this Settlement."
        • Changed placement restrictions to allow any biome except Tundra.
      • Sanchi Stupa
        • Changed cost from 375 Production to 450.
        • Moved to Skilled Trades Civic.
      • Weiyang Palace
        • Moved to Citizenship Civic Mastery.
  • Exploration Age Wonders
    • Borobudur
      • Changed ability to affect Quarters in that Settlement only.
    • Erdene Zuu
      • Reduced base Culture from 4 to 2.
      • Changed placement restrictions to allow any biome.
      • Decreased cost from 550 Production to 400.
      • Moved to Authority Civic Mastery.
    • Forbidden City
      • Increased base Culture from 2 to 4.
      • Reduced Culture and Gold on Fortifications from 2 to 1, but now it applies to all Settlements.
      • Increased cost from 400 Production to 550.
      • Moved to Imperialism Civic Mastery.
    • Hale O Keawe
      • Changed "Constructing a Building on Coast Terrain grants Culture equal to 50% of its cost" to "+1 Culture on Water Buildings."
    • House of Wisdom
      • Reduced the number of Relics granted from 3 to 1.
    • Machu Pikchu
      • Removed "+2 Resource Capacity in this Settlement."
      • Changed "+4 Culture and Gold on all Buildings adjacent to this Wonder" to "Buildings gain a +1 Culture and Gold Adjacency for Mountains."
      • Changed placement restrictions to allow the Grassland biome.
  • Modern Age Wonders
    • [Crossroads of the World DLC] Boudhanath
      • Increased base Influence yield from 4 to 6.
      • Changed placement restrictions to allow the Grassland biome.
    • Brandenburg Gate
      • Changed "This Settlement suffers no Happiness penalties from War Weariness. +5 Happiness in conquered Settlements" to "+1 War Support on all wars. +1 Settlement Limit."
    • Eiffel Tower
      • Increased Culture and Happiness on Quarters from 2 to 3.
    • Hermitage
      • Changed "+10% Culture in Cities that have a Great Work on display" to "+5 Culture in Cities that have a Great Work on display."
    • Muzibu Azaala Mpanga
      • Changed "+2 Food on all Lake tiles. +2 Culture and Happiness on Lake tiles in this Settlement" to "+4 Culture and Food on Improvements and Districts on Lake tiles."
    • Palacio de Bellas Artes
      • Removed "+10% Happiness in this City."
      • Increased Happiness from Great Works from 2 to 3.
      • Added "Gain 1 Artifact."
    • Red Fort
      • Added 4 Production to the base Yield.

Leaders & Civs

  • Leaders
    • Himiko, High Shaman Persona
      • Himiko, High Shaman's ability now properly applies to the Guildhall, Opera House or Inn Buildings.

UI

  • Alignment & Spacing
    • Addressed a reported issue where players could not select all leaders in the Diplomacy menu when playing in 1280 x 720 resolution.
  • Civilopedia
    • Updated City Capture entry of the Civilopedia with correct information on City Center Health.
    • The Unique Army Commander Trung Nhi Civilopedia Page is no longer missing gameplay functionality information.
  • Controller-Specific
    • Resolved multiple controller prompt issues, including missing back/continue buttons, removal of non-functional prompts, and incorrect prompts appearing in certain menus.
    • Improved controller navigation in various menus, ensuring scroll bars work correctly, LT/RT no longer breaks scrolling, and pop-up boxes receive proper focus.
    • LT/RT buttons no longer display a "?" placeholder when opening the Pause menu while the City Detail menu is active.
    • L2/R2 inputs now swap between settlements (instead of zooming) after editing a settlement name.
    • UI and functionality issues no longer occur when opening the Civics Tree via controller after completing a civic
    • The Add Support button retains functionality when switching from the Befriend Progress bar to the leader screen.
    • Non-functional LB/RB button prompts present when disabling all Legacy Path in the Age Progress menu.
    • The Promotion menu can now be closed when pressing the Back button in the Main Menu.
    • The camera can now move after placement of any Settlement in Advanced Start.
    • The "Attributes" tutorial can now be minimized when the player triggers "Attributes" in the Leader Attribute menu.
  • General
    • Added artwork to the "Next Turn" button in Multiplayer.
    • Improved resolution of leader portraits when viewing the Victory/Defeat screen.
    • Assyria now has unique loading screen art when loading into the game in Antiquity.
    • A grey square can no longer be seen behind the arrow button when viewing it near leader ribbons.
    • Addressed a reported issue where Distant Land Treasure Resources could display as Homeland Treasure Resource when viewed in the Trade Lens.
    • Players can now return to the Main Menu when using mouse right-click in the Multiplayer Menu.
    • Addressed a reported issue where selecting the "Grow City" notification after a force-end turn action could cause a crash.
    • The 'Relationships: Agendas' tutorial will no longer trigger out of order when the player first meets an AI leader during Antiquity.
    • Tutorial Turns now appear after closing the production panel when enabling Production Panel Stays Open.
    • The Establish Air Base and Rebase Aircraft action is now canceled when selecting any other Unit's tile.
  • Text Changes
    • Placeholder text string will no longer show in place of an icon when viewing the Silla civic tradition Beopseong.
    • The text "can be purchased in Towns" is no longer missing when viewing the description text of Factory in Modern Age.
    • Crewed Space Flight project description requirements are no longer missing when viewing Rocketry in the Technology menu and Tech Tree.
    • Improved accuracy of text description for Camels.
    • Made various text fixes and improvements.
  • Tooltips
    • Yield icons are no longer too big when viewing a tile with more than 5 single type Yields on the map.
    • The correct text is now present when viewing the "Currently Producing" tooltip while producing any City Project.
    • Inconsistent text will no longer appear when viewing the tooltips on a tile that has both flood risk and near volcanoes in the Settler Lens.
    • Adjusted the "Constructing Wonder" description to properly fit within the tooltips frame during Multiplayer.

Narrative

  • Addressed reported issues preventing certain events from triggering.
  • Corrected various tutorial text and icon issues in Narrative Events.
  • Updated the description of Investigation Discoveries in the Civilopedia entry for Discoveries.
  • Events that have Yield costs now clarify that they may cause their civ to have negative Yield gains due to penalties, maintenance, and other costs.
  • Addressed a reported issue where the Narrative Event UI could pop up without prompting the button to display one.
  • The Artilleryman: The reward tooltip now properly reflects the reward gained.
  • Ashes: Rewards are changed to one granting Culture and the other Gold.
  • Bodhisattva: Event can now correctly be completed.
  • Doctor's Orders: The Healing bonus reward now applies in Friendly Territory.
  • Echoes of History: The reward tooltip for the second option now awards a Production bonus towards training Explorers.
  • Form and Formlessness: The reward tooltip now correctly says, "+1 Policy Slot."
  • If Needs Be: Quest can now be completed correctly.
  • The Invisible World: This event will now only trigger for Chola or Majapahit. Additionally the second option in this event now displays the correct text.
  • An Invitation to War: Clarified text on the Options' Reward tooltips.
  • Obstinacy: The icon for the Yield cost on the first option is now displayed for this event.
  • Rise of the Burghers: Event now has a second reward option.
  • A Royal Procession: Event can now be completed with unique Units that replace the Slinger Unit.
  • A Sheaf of Arrows: The second option now awards "+2 Happiness on Armorer."
  • Tiers of the Hunt: Rewards only apply to the Palace now.
  • Wasted Breath: Quest progress is now displayed correctly.
  • Waves of Gold: Event now refers to Treasure Convoy Units instead of Treasure Fleet Units.
  • The Way Things Are: Clarified the description on the reward tooltip for the second option.

Audio

  • Addressed various audio localization issues across the game.
  • Made various quality-of-life improvements across leader and narrator voice-over.
  • Made various quality-of-life improvements across UI.
  • Added SFX to Narrative Rewards, Capture Settlement, and Raze or Keep Settlement.
  • Notification sound added when another player completes a milestone.
  • Addressed various reported audio issues.