Civilization VII system requirements & platforms explained

Civilization VII is finally nearly here, with an Advanced Access debut set for February 6, before a full global release on February 11. With the game looking better than ever, it’s also a more technically demanding offering than in previous years.

Firaxis Games’ latest effort has been a long time coming, and it advances the series in many ways. Your selected Civilization will now advance more organically through the eras, changing depending on how you approach the game.

There are also a lot more visual features to the map and in combat, offering the ability to analyze the game’s intricate details more clearly. This all adds extra pressure to your computer’s hardware (assuming you’re not a console player), so you’ll want to make sure you’re sufficiently prepared to handle that.

Civilization VII minimum & recommended system requirements

Firaxis Games

The complete list of requirements to run Civilization VII on minimum settings is as follows:

Minimum settings

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Win 10 64 Bit
• Processor: Intel i5-4690 / Intel i3-10100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1050 / AMD RX 460 / Intel Arc A380
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 20 GB available space

The hardware needed to run the game is fairly low-end at this point, and you’ll only need a 10 series GPU to get it up and running. If you’re looking to increase the visual fidelity, you’ll need to hit the following recommended settings:

Recommended settings

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Win 10 64 Bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2060 / AMD RX 6600 / Intel Arc A750
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 20 GB available space

Those specs likely won’t surprise many, with the Civilization series notoriously well-optimized and forgiving when it comes to hardware requirements.

Civilization VII platforms

Firaxis Games

Happily, Civilization VII is the most widely available release in the series to date, so the chances are that if you have a console or PC, you’re likely able to play it. The complete list of platforms is as follows:

• Windows PC, Mac and Linux via Steam or Epic Games Store
• PlayStation 4/5
• Xbox One
• Xbox Series S/X
• Nintendo Switch

Though the releases are the same across the board, you can expect reduced visual fidelity on older consoles and the Nintendo Switch to account for the weaker hardware on offer there.