Civilization Network Message Board

Beyond the name and developer, Civilization World shares more than a few traits with the series from which it was spawned. The first in a planned series of walkthroughs from Firaxis cursorily details those similarities, just below the break.

When we first heard about the Facebook version of Civilization a couple of years back, the prospect was enormously exciting – a persistent online Civ, played from any PC, any time. Of course, back then we perhaps weren’t fully aware of the route Facebook games were broadly taking – the pay/spam friends/wait model popularised by FarmVille. There’s absolutely nothing to say that model can’t be successful and entertaining, but it does mean that Civ World, as the now fully-revealed Facebook Civ has been retitled, is necessarily a very different prospect to Civ itself. In-game footage and dev commentary below…(more…)

Civilization World, the Facebook incarnation of the epic strategy series, is expected to launch this summer. A recent piece by CNN, in which Firaxis emperor Sid Meier called Civ World "the most dramatic stretch" the series has seen so far, as Meier expressed a typical Civ multiplayer game can easily span 12 or more continuous hours, but the Facebook version can start and stop over days and weeks.

The last major "stretch" for Civilization -- if you don't consider hex-based boards totally crazy -- was the console-based Civilization Revolution. Despite taking the core elements of Civ and doing a great job of bringing it to consoles, it apparently wasn't good enough for a sequel.

Civilization Network, Take-Two Interactive's first "social network game," will now go by the more global, less techie-sounding Civilization World. The Facebook title is expected sometime in 2011, and a closed alpha test will begin January 12.

Interested parties can apply now at the Civ World site, and they'll receive a confirmation email by January 10. Those who register will also receive a "special item" to display in their throne rooms. No word yet if plebs who are late to the party will be able to pay a couple bucks for that item when the game launches.

In his public address about the name change, Civ emperor Sid Meier also said that Civ World games will have a "well-defined beginning and end" and players will have "both a final goal to work towards, as well as short-term objectives to achieve as they play. The trophies you unlock with your triumphs will carry over from game to game, and you can show them off in your throne room." Okay, we're intrigued about a Facebook game -- time for some self-flagellation.

Sid Meier's strategy game going social next year.

Take-Two Interactive's first "social network game," Civilization Network, will arrive on Facebook in 2011. The release window was confirmed by Take-Two's soon-to-be CEO (currently the company's Executive Chairman) Strauss Zelnick during today's BMO Capital Markets digital conference.

As for a glimpse of what Civ addicts are in for, Zelnick stated that we should see the product "relatively soon." Civilization Network's production has been quiet for quite some time, with no update to the game's Facebook page -- you know, the platform the thing is going to be on -- since May. When we contacted 2K Games about a status update last month, we were told the game was still in development and that there would be "more details to come in the future." So, apparently, the future is kinda now.

#civilization Civilization creator Sid Meier was our guest for Kotaku Talk Radio this week. You can listen to the full episode now or download it for posterity. So many topics. Did you know Meier wishes he made Tetris and Guitar Hero? More »

The problem with those hollow boxes littering the cubicles at your workplace is there isn't enough juice, enough substance, within to actually run any kind of program outside of Excel, Outlook or--when you're really bored--MS Paint. So if you're at work and don't really feel like working, you're forced to either scour the web for stuff or watch a neat screensaver. Then, there was hope: Civilization Network for Facebook. However, it looks like Civilization Network is still a ways off. Variety reports that the beta for the new Facebook game won't actually start up until around June. This will likely come as a big let-down to fans, as the initial announcement back in October mentioned a hunt for beta testers would be underway "soon." We guess "soon" means "maybe in a few months or something."

Full Civilization game with a persistent environment coming soon.