List of Civilization media explained

Civilization is a franchise composed primarily of a series of turn-based strategy video games and associated media. The core of the franchise is a series of six titles for personal computers, released between 1991 and 2016. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of its sequels. The official titles of the series, core games, and most spin-offs include his name, as in Sid Meier's Civilization. In addition to the main titles, the franchise includes multiple expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered a formulative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

The first game in the series, Civilization (1991), was created by MicroProse co-founder Meier and Bruce Shelley. MicroProse continued the series for several years, producing Civilization II (1996) as well as a spin-off title, Sid Meier's Colonization (1994). Business changes after the consolidation of the company in 1996 with Spectrum HoloByte, which bought MicroProse in 1993, resulted in Meier leaving the company to found Firaxis Games in 1996. Firaxis created a spin-off title, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999), but did not have the rights to the "Civilization" name. MicroProse did not produce any further games in the series beyond licensing the name to Activision for the spin-off (1999) before being purchased by Hasbro Interactive in 1998. Hasbro Interactive, along with the "Civilization" brand, was in turn purchased by Infogrames in 2001, who licensed the name to Firaxis for Civilization III (2001). The rights to the franchise were sold in 2004, however, to Take-Two Interactive, which licensed it to Firaxis again for Civilization IV (2005) just before acquiring Firaxis itself in 2005. Firaxis has since served as the primary developer and Take-Two the sole publisher for the franchise, producing main-series games Civilization V (2010) and Civilization VI (2016) along with seven spin-off titles, including console and mobile versions of the franchise in Civilization Revolution (2008) and titles such as (2014).

In addition to video games, the franchise includes several board games, artbooks, and music albums. The first board game, Civilization: The Boardgame (2002), corresponds with Civilization III, while the second game by that name (2010) is based on Civilization IV, and the latest, (2017), is based on Civilization VI. A card game, created by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson and based on that game, was included with the Civilization Chronicles (2006) compilation. Books containing concept art and commentary for Civilization V and VI have been included in special editions of the game. Music CDs were included with the special editions of Civilization IV and V; digital albums have been sold for Civilization VI and its expansion, as well as for Civilization: Beyond Earth and its expansions. The Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals-winning theme song for IV, "Baba Yetu", was included in composer Christopher Tin's album Calling All Dawns, while the theme song for VI, "Sogno di Volare", has been released as a single by Tin and included in his album To Shiver the Sky.

Video games

Other games

Tabletop games

Title! scope="col"
Release dateTypeRef.
Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame2002Board game
  • Created by Glenn Drover and published by Eagle Games
  • Based on Civilization III
Sid Meier's Civilization: The Card Game2006Card game
  • Created by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson and published by Firaxis Games
  • Included solely in the Civilization Chronicles (2006) compilation
  • Based on Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game2010Board game
  • Created by Kevin Wilson and published by Fantasy Flight Games
  • Based on Civilization IV
  • Two expansions produced: Sid Meier's Civilization: Fame and Fortune (2011) and Sid Meier's Civilization: Wisdom and Warfare (2013)
Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn2017Board game
  • Created by James Kniffen and published by Fantasy Flight Games
  • Based on Civilization VI

Books

Title! scope="col"
Release dateMedia typeRef.
Alpha Centauri: Power of the MindwormsJanuary 13, 2000Graphic novel
Centauri Dawn / Dragon Sun / Twilight of the MindNovember 28, 2000 / August 28, 2001 / January 29, 2002Books
  • Written by Alpha Centauris story developer Michael Ely and published by Simon & Schuster
  • Novelization trilogy of Alpha Centauri
  • 304 / 277 / 288 pages
  • / /
GURPS Alpha CentauriDecember 15, 2002Sourcebook
  • Written by Jon F. Zeigler and published by Steve Jackson Games
  • Rulebook for using the Alpha Centauri setting in the GURPS role-playing system
  • 128 pages
The Chronicles of CivilizationOctober 25, 2006Book
  • Published by 2K Games
  • Interviews and concept art
  • 96 pages
  • Included with the Civilization Chronicles compilation
Sid Meier's Civilization V: The Art of The GameSeptember 21, 2010Concept art
  • Published by 2K Games
  • Concept art and commentary on Civilization V
  • 162 pages
  • Included with the "Special Edition" of the game
Sid Meier's Civilization: Civilization Through the YearsOctober 21, 2016Concept art
  • Published by 2K Games
  • Concept art and commentary on the series
  • 100 pages
  • Included with the "25th Anniversary Edition" of Civilization VI

Music

See main article: Music in the Civilization video game series.

Title! scope="col"
Release dateRelease typeRef.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV Official SoundtrackOctober 24, 2005Album
Sid Meier's Civilization V Official SoundtrackSeptember 21, 2010Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Michael Curran for Civilization V
  • Published by 2K Games; included solely with the special edition of the game
  • 33 tracks on two discs with a duration of 2:37:14
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond EarthOctober 24, 2014Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization: Beyond Earth
  • Published by 2K Games as a digital album
  • 42 tracks with a duration of 2:47:22
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising TideSeptember 29, 2015Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide
  • Published by 2K Games as a digital album
  • 29 tracks with a duration of 2:03:05
Sogno di Volare (Civilization VI Main Theme)October 20, 2016Single
  • Composed by Christopher Tin for Civilization VI
  • Published by Tin Works Publishing as a digital single
  • Contains full version of the song and shortened version used in game intro, with a duration of 6:38
  • Included in Tin's album To Shiver the Sky (2019)
Sid Meier's Civilization VI Original Game SoundtrackOctober 21, 2016Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr for Civilization VI
  • Published by 2K Games as a digital album
  • 38 tracks with a duration of 2:24:09
  • Expanded version titled Sid Meier's Civilization 25th Anniversary Soundtrack included with Digital Deluxe Edition and 25th Anniversary Editions of the game <
-- Originally had 76 tracks; a later update to the game added 19 tracks from Civ 2-6 -->
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Rise & Fall Original Game SoundtrackFebruary 8, 2018Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo for Civilization VI: Rise and Fall
  • Published by 2K Games as a digital album
  • 33 tracks with a duration of 2:14:40
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Original Game SoundtrackFebruary 14, 2019Album
  • Composed primarily by Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo for Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
  • Published by 2K Games as a digital album
  • 33 tracks with a duration of 1:57:00

External links