After a long and highly teasing stream, Firaxis has announced the second expansion for Sid Meier’s Civilization 6. The new DLC expansion will be called Civilization 6 Gathering Storm, and it will deal with climate change. Players will have to deal with rising seas, serious storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, and more. They’ve also announced the release date as February 14, 2019, and it’ll be exclusive to PC for now despite the main game’s recent launch on Switch.
The developer calls Civilization 6 Gathering Storm “the largest expansion Firaxis Games has ever created for a Civilization game.” The expansion will feature a changing Earth, as the effect of yours and other civilizations’ actions will directly impact the planet.
For example, relying exclusively on carbon-based resources such as coal and oil will cause ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. A dynamic climate system will track the amount of carbon in the air, and if ignored disasters will slowly mount up. You can counter these planetary changes with a range of new building projects such as dams, canals, and sea walls, but in general you’ll just have to watch what you do or risk annihilation.
To that end, Firaxis is bringing back the World Congress, as well as the diplomatic victory condition. Players can earn “Diplomatic Favor” with alliances, influence, World Games, and more, to spend on special favors from other leaders, call Emergencies, and generally make your civilization a more powerful voice in Congress. Rivals can also vote to take favors and “victory points” away from you, so it’s just as much a challenge.
Civilization 6 came out in October 2016, and only received its first expansion Rise and Fall in February this year. Civilization 6 Gathering Storm will also add eight new civilizations, nine new leaders, seven new World Wonders, an expanded espionage system, and a lot more. The expansion will be out for PC on February 14, and is currently priced $39.99 / £34.99 on Steam. You can check out the full trailer below.
