Latest news with #FiraxisGames
Geek Girl Authority
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VI PLATINUM EDITION Is Free in the Epic Games Store
Highlights Every week, the Epic Games Store gives away in-game loot and free game titles; all you have to do is remember to collect them. gives away in-game loot and free titles; all you have to do is remember to collect them. This week, create an empire that will stand the test of time in Sid Meier's Civilization VI Platinum Edition . Sid Meier's Civilization VI Platinum Edition Act quickly because this loot is only free via the Epic Games Store for a limited time. Epic Games is known for giving away free games every week. It's simple — all you have to do is log into your Epic Games account, download the launcher, and claim your weekly freebies. Check out the loot available this week and grab it now because it is only free for a limited time. RELATED: Need more free games? Check out F2P Friday Sid Meier's Civilization VI Platinum Edition Sid Meier's Civilization VI (2016) is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. Play as one of over 20 leaders as you strive to create the best civilization on Earth. Much like in real life, each leader has their strengths and weaknesses. Guide your civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age by conducting research, managing diplomacy, and waging war. Explore even more ways to achieve one of five victory conditions, including tweaks to the science and culture victory conditions. RELATED: July's Most Anticipated Video Games The platinum edition of Sid Meier's Civilization VI includes six DLC packs that feature civilization and scenario packs from around the world. Additionally, the platinum edition includes the Gathering Storm and the Rise and Fall expansions. The platinum edition is a great and comprehensive way for new players to experience one of the most expansive and beloved game series of all time. Sid Meier's Civilization VI Platinum Edition is free (a $79.99 value) in the Epic Games Store until July 24 at 10 a.m. ET.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Civilisation 7 reveals new map types and features in update 1.2.2
Firaxis Games has shared what's coming in the next big Civ 7 update, and it's packed with new content and upgrades. Scheduled to arrive on June 17, update 1.2.2 introduces larger maps, deeper game settings, more religion options, and new city bonuses to shake up how players build their empire. The update follows months of feedback since the game's February launch. As one of the most ambitious entries in the series, Civ 7 splits gameplay across three distinct ages and focuses heavily on decision-making, exploration, and development. Update 1.2.2 aims to refine those elements even further with both community-requested features and fresh content. Larger maps and more control over your game Make history on Switch VII – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is available now! Players will finally be able to play on large and huge maps. These new sizes support up to ten civilisations in single-player and eight in multiplayer, offering longer and more strategic matches. Alongside this, several advanced options are being added to let players customise how they want to play. These include the ability to turn Legacy Paths on or off, pick which global crises appear, adjust the AI's difficulty more precisely, and even bypass the default civilisation unlock system. Town upgrades, Steam mods, and new religion bonuses A major part of update 1.2.2 focuses on improving towns. The Urban Centre is being reworked to boost gold and happiness for building upkeep, while a new Resort Town specialisation joins the game. Other towns like Fort Town, Factory Town, and Mining Town will also receive minor balance improvements. Quick update from our team, Civ fans - we've got a significant #Civ7 update on the way, currently scheduled for June 17 (subject to change).Read our full check-in breaking down what's in the update, some items still in progress, and how your feedback is helping guide what's… Steam Workshop support is finally being added, opening the door to player-made mods and creations. Fans will now be able to share their maps, tweaks, and mods directly through the platform. Religion is also getting a big push. The update adds 14 new 'Religious Beliefs' and two fresh Pantheons. Players will also discover 24 new bonuses for City-States across the different Ages. More features coming soon While update 1.2.2 is set for June 17, Firaxis also teased what's in development beyond that. An Auto-Explore feature is being prepared for a potential July release, giving units more freedom to uncover the map on their own. Hotseat Multiplayer is also in the works, although no launch date has been confirmed yet. Other items being polished include specialist balance, treasure fleet upgrades, and the small but amusing news that the Scout Dog will be pettable. Quality-of-life fixes and bug improvements will also ship with the patch. Civilisation 7's next chapter is shaping up to be an exciting one, and this update looks like a strong step toward refining the strategy experience even more.
WIRED
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
Meet the Game Developer Turning Fanfic Into Deadpool DLC
Mar 18, 2025 9:15 AM When Emma Kidwell started working on new content for Marvel's Midnight Suns , she turned to her fanfic roots. She isn't the only one following the rules of fan-written stories to develop fresh ideas. Emma Kidwell photographed in San Francisco on March 17, 2025. Photograph: Darrell Jackson Before she started writing video games, Emma Kidwell loved Twilight fanfiction. Her 'bad, self-insert' stories found a home on DeviantArt, an online community where people posted fan art, original work, and so much more. 'The low barrier of entry made it very accessible,' Kidwell says. Her writing turned into role-playing in forums, and Twilight fandom gave way to a love of video games like Mass Effect . Today, Kidwell is a writer for Firaxis Games and a rising star in the world of game narrative. Her work includes Hindsight , Borderlands 4 , Life Is Strange 2 , and Sid Meier's Civilization VII ; she's been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 and The Game Awards' Future Class of 2023. This week, she's hosting the annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) awards during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. All of that is happening alongside her talk about how writing in fandoms as a kid helped her write DLC for Marvel's Midnight Suns . Writing fanfiction, it turns out, isn't so different from writing licensed characters. 'I'm role-playing when I'm writing Marvel IP for Firaxis,' Kidwell says. 'Fanfiction gave me that foundation to build off of.' Fanfiction has often been considered a lower form of writing, as either self indulgent or outrageously erotic, the sort of work one does in secret. In the internet culture pantheon, few fanfic writers have ever achieved fame, and those that have sometimes do so for the salacious nature of their work. 'My Immortal,' an infamous Harry Potter fanfic, is still referenced in interviews even today. Writers such as E.L. James, who created the Fifty Shades series (originally a Twilight fanfic), however, have begun to turn their work into something profitable. Others, like Kidwell, have turned it into a runway for their careers. 'I think because of fanfiction's relationship to marginalized communities, it wasn't initially seen as being a valid form of writing,' Kidwell says. Clearly, that's wrong. The gaming and fanfic communities make for a harmonious marriage. The story-driven nature of most games means plenty of fodder for fans craving new narratives, but writers on well-known sites like Archive of Our Own can—and will turn—anything into an original story. Even Tetris. 'Fanfiction is your sandbox,' Kidwell says. 'You get to play. There are no rules. You get comfortable playing around with characters that aren't yours and doing whatever the hell you want with them.' For Midnight Suns , Kidwell was given four characters to choose from, including Deadpool and Storm. Whatever she wrote would be based on the comic versions of the characters, not their cinematic counterparts. While researching both characters, she had a revelation: 'This is really similar to what I would think about when creating an original character in a role-playing setting. How would this character fit in with other established characters?' Writers in Kidwell's position still have to stick to the rules of the franchise, including its story canon. That hasn't kept Kidwell from being able to tell the stories she wants. 'I think a big, common misconception with IP writing is that it's super restrictive,' Kidwell says. 'But I think there's a lot of creative freedom within certain boundaries because you get to inject a little piece of yourself into these characters. It's just kind of like a puzzle: figure out how you can do it authentically and how you can do it in a way that makes sense for the game.' Kidwell still role-plays in her spare time. Right now, she's deep into the Dragon Age community. 'I see IP writing as kind of the in-between,' she says of fanfiction and fiction. It's a natural next step in role-playing: 'I'm just doing it in a professional setting now.'
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
PC Gamer magazine's new issue is on sale now: inZOI
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This month PC Gamer delivers world-exclusive access to the stunning new The Sims rival, inZOI, which looks set to steal the life sim throne. For our authoritative cover feature, PC Gamer speaks directly with the game's director, Hyungjun Kim, about every facet of the game, from its comprehensive character creator, to its setting, characters, and story, through to its unique gameplay mechanics, such as an NPC character who is controlled by AI. Kim speaks eloquently about his game, the life sim genre, and the video game industry in general, bringing his trademark philosophical flair to the conversation. A must-read for any fan of the life sim genre, and especially those who have sunk hundreds of hours into The Sims over the last couple of decades. This issue also features another fantastic feature. As we review Sid Meier's Civilization 7 in this issue of the magazine, we thought there was no better time to take a look back at the Civilization series as a whole, starting with the landmark 1991 original release. Not only do we then proceed to showcase each game in the series in this feature, talking about what they delivered to gamers and how they evolved the initial Civ formula, but we also speak directly to a Firaxis Games veteran who has worked on many of the series' best games for the inside scoop on what it's like to make a Civilization game. For strategy fans this is an essential read. Then, in terms of previews, this issue sees PC Gamer deliver our hot take on Doom: The Dark Ages, the hyper-violent new entry in the long-running FPS series that sees the Doom Slayer fight through a medieval hellscape with big guns, a chainsaw shield and a trio of deadly hand-to-hand weapons. For gamers who found the acrobatic madness of Doom Eternal a little off-putting, The Dark Ages looks like a return to more of the original Doom reboot formula, with ground-based combat against hordes of demonic foes the name of the game. Oh, and there are rideable dragons and a giant mech to pilot, too. Hype! Then, over in reviews land, the PC Gamer reviews machine tackles epic turn-based strategy game, Sid Meier's Civilization 7, as well as Orks Must Die! Deathtrap, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, Eternal Strands, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, along with other games, too. All that plus a group test of six new motherboards to consider building your next PC gaming rig around, a reinstall of the epic strategy game Total War: Warhammer III, the continuation of a hijinx-filled diary following undead hero Mister Fibula's misadventures in Divinity Original Sin II, a look at the fantastic new Half-Life 2 mod The Burton Equation, a passionate arguement for how villainesses make any game better, a detailed guide to thriving in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's medieval world, a tour of the very latest PC gaming experiences coming out of Japan, including Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Suikoden I & II Remaster, an update on everything new Hunt: Showdown 1896, a fresh dispatch from The Spy, a new case to be cracked for the PCG Investigator, Dick Ray-Tracing, and much more too. Enjoy the issue! Issue 407 is on shelves now and available on all your digital devices from the App Store and Zinio. You can also order directly from Magazines Direct or purchase a subscription to save yourself some cash, receive monthly deliveries, and get incredibly stylish subscriber-only covers. Enjoy the issue!
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Civilization VII' makers features Shawnee tribe, fund language recording effort in Oklahoma
An Oklahoma tribe is seeing the inclusion of its historical leaders and language in the latest iteration of a popular video game series. Civilization VII, which was released on Feb. 11, depicts the Shawnee Tribe as well as chief and military leader Tecumseh, a playable character voiced by Shawnee actor Dillon Dean. It's the seventh release in Sid Meier's Civilization series since its debut in 1991, which encourages players to build empires in a simulation of the real world, but also includes imaginary twists. Game developers began a partnership with the Shawnee Tribe in 2021 to create an authentic, sincere representation of the group's culture and history within the game, according to a news release. Through the partnership, developer Firaxis Games and publisher 2K, invested in building a recording studio in Oklahoma to support the tribe's efforts in preserving its language and culture, which opened its doors this month. Here's what to know: While developing Civilization VII, Firaxis Games approached the Shawnee Tribe in 2021 about a partnership so they could ensure that the inclusion of the Shawnee civilization respectfully represented Tecumseh's vision, according to a news release. In addition to incorporating the Shawnee language in-game as faithfully as possible, the news release states, developers researched archeological material, studied family photographs, and consulted with cultural knowledge-keepers to carefully shape how the tribe was characterized. "Seeing cultures portrayed based on ideologies and not on geographic boundaries, and now to see that translated into Civilization VII, where we have the Shawnee as a standalone civilization, represented in a way that we want to be represented, that is just truly an amazing opportunity," said Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe, in a video on social media. The Shawnee people can only be played by downloading the Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack DLC. Earlier this month, 2K Foundations, a foundation formed by game publisher 2K that gives back to underserved communities in the country, opened the doors to the George 'Fife' Blanchard Yaatakciitonooteeki (Recording Studio) in Miami, Oklahoma. Barnes said the tribe had spent years collecting historical text, and the missing step was finding those who could speak it to preserve the legacy. By opening the studio doors, they plan to record Shawnee history and the spoken language of the Shawnee people further. '[We want] to be able to hear this musical quality that the Shawnee language and all languages have. Without hearing that, you can't get that from text on a page. You can only get that from listening to a fluent speaker,' Barnes said in a video posted on social media. The recording studio is named after Shawnee historian and elder George 'Fife' Blanchard, who attended the ribbon cutting. Tecumseh was born in the Shawnee village of Piqua, Ohio, on March 9, 1768. According to the National Parks Service, his name means The Shooting Star, or Celestial Panther Lying in Wait, named after a meteor that flew through the sky on his birthdate. He grew up to become an orator and warrior for the Shawnee people. He and his brother Tenskwatawa established a new capital on the banks of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. Tecumseh sought to form an independent nation for indigenous people officially, so while the U.S. and Great Britain battled in the War of 1812, he allied with the British. This new alliance placed Tecumseh in command of all Native American forces during the war. If the two factions won, the Old Northwest would be a Native American nation under British protection. As the war ended in a victory for America, Tecumseh's dream was never realized. The Shawnee people were forcibly removed from their Ohio home in 1869 to Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Civ 7: Game features tribe, boosts Shawnee language effort in Oklahoma
