Update 1.3.1 – Dec 9, 2025

[p]Hi Civ fans, [/p][p][/p][p]Update 1.3.1 is rolling out now on all platforms! This update includes the second part of the Tides of Power Collection, along with the new Shattered Seas map type, improvements to biomes, and another round of balance adjustments to several civs. As we’ve mentioned in earlier updates, things are a bit lighter while some bigger projects continue behind the scenes, but we still wanted to get some fresh gameplay into your hands before the holidays! [/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t grabbed the Tides of Power Collection yet, Civ VII players can still claim it for free* on their platform of choice any time before January 5, 2026 (once you claim it, it’s yours to keep)! Part two introduces leader Sayyida al Hurra, along with the Ottomans and Iceland civs.
[/p][p]A few quick notes before you dive in:[/p]

• [p]While we aim to maintain backwards compatibility for existing saves as much as possible, some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign. For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age.[/p]
• [p]If you encounter any new bugs or issues, try disabling any mods, as some may not yet be compatible with the latest update.[/p]
• [p]Are you playing on Steam and want to finish your current save under a previous version? You can do so using our legacy Steam beta branch.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We mentioned in a previous From the Devs entry that we’ve been experimenting with new map generation techniques, and we’re happy to introduce the latest one born out of this endeavor: the Shattered Seas map type! [/p][p][/p][p]Shattered Seas plays like a combination of the Pangaea and Archipelago map types, consisting of large islands separated by shallow water. These large islands are big enough for a couple Settlements, but in order to expand your empire, you’ll have to take to the seas early. Like the Pangaea maps, the majority of the map is available starting in Antiquity, with a few Distant Lands islands to find across the deep ocean in the Exploration Age. 
[/p][p]As a little bonus to help with navigation, we added coastal water visuals to the minimap so you can better explore this map type (and others).
[/p][p]The stronger naval focus of Shattered Seas is especially fun with our last naval-focused update and the new content from Tides of Power. So race for that sailing tech, make some Cogs, and take to the seas![/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]In addition to a brand new map type, we’ve continued to make updates to our core map generation, with a focus on biomes this time. Across all map types, we’ve tweaked the impact of rainfall, wind direction, rain shadows from mountains, and water access from rivers on biome generation, as well as the impact of latitude. This change should help generate more organically shaped biomes.[/p][p][/p][p]For any procedural generation system with this many moving parts, we pay close attention to feedback and continue to tweak things to improve the baseline experience. We have more map improvements planned for future updates, including exposing more settings like sea level, world age, and more.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]The balance tweaks continue! In Update 1.3.1, we’ve made some adjustments to a handful of civs, including Egypt, America, Russia, and more. Some are resolving reported issues, like adjustments to the Shawnee Unique Improvement, while others include a mix of nerfs and buffs. Egypt has been a standout since the last update, but your feedback told us they were stacking up a few too many advantages - even by Pharaoh standards - so we’ve tuned things back a bit.[/p][p][/p][p]With this update, we’re wrapping up our focus on civ balance for now (though we’ll continue to tweak as needed) and shifting focus to other systems over the next few months. [/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]AI[/h2]

• [p]AI now properly uses unique Diplomatic actions gained from City-State bonuses.[/p]
• [p]AI playing as Republic of Pirates will now move their Sloops when defeating a Naval Unit if they have Movement Points remaining.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue where Independent Power Army Commanders would fail to move or take any actions after the Independent Power became friendly while raiding a player's Settlement.[/p]
• [p]Independent Powers AI no longer fails to pack Army Commanders after the player selects Incite Raid.[/p]
• [p]Uposatha, Charters, Enlightenment, Patronage, Indenture, and Colonial Surplus now properly apply their bonus on Yield type adjacency for Improvements when slotted.[/p]
• [p]Captured Settlements no longer fail to be returned to their original owner when the AI sends a Peace Deal.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue where AI would overly commit to Counter Spy actions in the Modern Age, even against friendly civilizations and allies. AI now properly prioritizes Diplomatic Actions based on its relationship with other leaders.[/p]

[h2]
Diplomacy[/h2]

• [p]The player’s Diplomacy panel now automatically opens on the player’s civ and leader uniques, and now shows Traditions. For items with a prerequisite tech/civic, the unlock requirement is now also listed.[/p]
• [p]Denounce Military Presence now appears with the correct condition text, resolving an issue where "Peace Deal" was incorrectly shown when playing as Tonga and meeting Distant Lands Leaders.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Environment[/h2]

• [p]Water tiles now mention their biome type - Marine.[/p]
• [p]Whales and Fish now spawn in the Ocean in Modern.[/p]
• [p](★ - Community Influenced Item) Rainfall now has more of an impact on biomes, and mountains cast a rain shadow, creating zones of low rainfall. This follows Westerly and Easterly wind behavior, so the dry zones change with latitude.[/p]
• [p]Crabs will now spawn on navigable rivers.[/p]
• [p]Excavate Artifact no longer becomes unavailable when a Ruin is within the borders of a Settlement that gets conquered.[/p]
• [p][/p]

[h2]Economy[/h2]

• [p]The player is no longer unable to create trade routes to some Distant Land Settlements from the Homelands.[/p]
• [p]Salt and Truffles now properly give +20% Production towards training any Unit when slotted into a City. [/p]
  • [p]Dev Note: Some players were still experiencing issues with these Resources since the last update, but this adjustment should have them working as intended! [/p]
• [p]Clay Pits now correctly gain a Production bonus from Technology / Warehouses when the Improvement is created on a Clay Resource tile.[/p]
• [p]Great Stele's Gold now properly scales per Age when building Wonders in Exploration and Modern.[/p]
• [p]The effect of Wiyehi Simekofi Mastery can no longer be stacked on Mawaskawe Skote when a player builds multiple Mawaskawe Skote Improvements in one Settlement.[/p]
• [p]Affected unimproved tiles will no longer retain their Yield preview when a player removes a Policy card that increases their Yield.
  [/p]

[h2]Legends & Mementos[/h2]

• [p]Rebalanced Brace of Pistols Memento to provide +2 Combat Strength to Naval when attacking, instead of +2 Combat Strength to Naval, so Naval Units will no longer have a Combat Strength bonus when defending. [/p]

[p][/p][h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• [p]Coastal tiles are now visible on the mini-map.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue where Shawnee was not correctly showing as unlockable or unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Navigation is now a prerequisite for Future Tech in the Antiquity Tech Tree.[/p]
• [p]Made various visual and camera improvements to the world wrap effect on maps.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Military[/h2]

• [p]Army Commander's "Focus Fire" can no longer be used with Naval Units when Naval Units are within an Army Commander's Command Radius.[/p]
• [p]Military Academy now correctly grants a free level when training Fleet / Air Commanders in the Settlement.[/p]
• [p]The Treasure Convoys’ origin and Treasure Fleet point information no longer disappears when the original Settlement is captured.[/p]
• [p]Naval Units no longer attack other Naval Units from Range when the "Shipsheds" Mastery Unique Civic is unlocked during Antiquity.[/p]
• [p]The Pirate Ability now properly appears when viewing the Privateer’s description.[/p]
• [p]Captured City Center tiles with only an undamaged Palace or City Hall no longer appear as valid coastal raid targets.[/p]
• [p]Unique Units from Tides of Power DLC now have a consistent Unit Maintenance Cost when obtained.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue where Army Commanders from Antiquity would incorrectly receive an additional Command Radius boost after transitioning to the Exploration Age when playing as Friedrich Oblique.[/p]
• [p]Army Commanders no longer fail to gain XP when a Unit damages an enemy in the Army Commander's upgraded Command Radius.[/p]
• [p]The description for the Niter Resource has been updated in Modern. It now states that it applies to Heavy Naval Units in addition to Siege Units. [/p]
  • [p]Dev Note: Niter previously applied to Naval and Siege Units (though its description did not say so). With the addition of Heavy and Light Naval Units, we decided to make this clearer as well as reinforce the new ranged identity of Heavy Naval Units.[/p]
• [p]Naval melee Units like the Privateer and Sloop now correctly advance onto the tile when defeating a Unit that is not capturable, and will properly hold their position when defeating a Unit that is capturable.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue where enemy Units located in a Town or City received in a peace deal could be stuck and unable to move until war is declared again on that civ.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Wonders[/h2]

• [p]Added the Great Library Wonder to the game. Provides +4 Science base Yield and +1 Science on Science Buildings across your Empire. Has 3 Codex Slots. Must be placed adjacent to a District. Unlocked on the Mathematics Tech Mastery.[/p]
  • [p]Dev Note: We’ve had this Wonder waiting for a while, as its purpose kept changing. We’re hoping that adding it now helps players complete the Antiquity Cultural Legacy Path a little easier, and build more focused Science empires.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h2]Leaders[/h2]

• [p]\[Tides of Power] Edward Teach[/p]
  • [p]Edward Teach’s ability no longer fails to provide Gold when enemy Naval Units are defeated by reciprocal damage.[/p]

[h2]Civs[/h2]

• [p]Egypt[/p]
  • [p]Riches of the Duat: +10% Production towards Wonders, doubled for Wonders in Desert Terrain. +2 Production on Wonders in Desert Terrain. (Previously:+15% Production towards Wonders, doubled for Wonders in Desert Terrain. +2 Production on Wonders in Desert Terrain.)[/p]
  • [p]Gifts of Osiris: +2 Production on Improvements and Districts on Navigable Rivers. (Previously: +2 Production on Improvements and Districts on Navigable and Minor Rivers.)[/p]
    • [p]Dev Note: Most of our changes to Egypt removed the bonuses to Minor Rivers. This lets powerful Egyptian River empires stay strong while not being quite as generous away from Navigable Rivers.[/p]
  • [p]Akhet: +2 Food on Improvements and Districts on Navigable Rivers. (Previously: +2 Food on Improvements and Districts on Navigable and Minor Rivers.)[/p]
  • [p]Kemet: +1 Culture on Improvements and Districts on Navigable Rivers (Previously: +1 Culture on Improvements and Districts on Navigable and Minor Rivers.)
    [/p]
• [p]America[/p]
  • [p]Gold Rush: +3 Gold on Resource Tiles. (Previously: +5 Gold for every assigned Resource.)[/p]
    • [p]Dev Note: America had a lot of extra Gold and Influence in its abilities, so we did a broad pass on reducing them. While this weakens the civ, it brings it closer in line to our intended economic gameplay in Modern.[/p]
  • [p]Lend Lease: +5 Gold and +1 Influence per Trade Route. (Previously: +25 Gold and +5 Influence per Trade Route.)[/p]
  • [p]Robber Baron: +1 Influence for every assigned Resource in Cities. (Previously: +2 Influence for every assigned Resource.)[/p]
  • [p]Captains of Industry (Tier 2): +1 Production on Resources. +1 Settlement Limit. (Previously: +2 Production on Resources. +1 Settlement Limit.)[/p]
  • [p]Yankee Ingenuity (Tier 2): Whenever you train a Prospector or Marine, receive an additional one. (Previously: Prospectors receive a 25% Gold discount.)
    [/p]
• [p]Russia[/p]
  • [p]Prosveshchenie: +1 Culture on Quarters, +1 Science on Quarters in Tundra. (Previously: +1 Culture and +1 Science on Districts, doubled in Tundra.)[/p]
    • [p]Dev Note: While reliant on Tundra, Russia was deceptively strong with moderate setup. As a Modern civ, you were often transitioning into it only when you had a great setup. With these changes, we still reward that setup but make you work for it a little more.[/p]
  • [p]Serfdom (Tier 1): Unlock the Obshchina. +10% Production towards Wonders. +1 Food on Farms in Towns. (Previously: Unlock the Obshchina. +1 Food on Farms in Towns.)[/p]
  • [p]Table of Ranks (Tier 1): +1 Gold and Production on Urban Districts in Cities. Hermitage Wonder. (Previously: +1 Gold on Urban Districts in Cities. Hermitage Wonder.)[/p]
  • [p]Obshchina: +1 Food on all Farms in this Settlement. +2 Culture if in Tundra. Russian Empire Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Cannot be built adjacent to another Obshchina. (Previously: +2 Food on all Farms in this Settlement. +2 Culture if in Tundra. Russian Empire Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Cannot be built adjacent to another Obshchina.)[/p]
• [p]Rome[/p]
  • [p]Auxilia: +3% Production towards Military Units in the Capital for every Town. (Previously: +5% Production towards Military Units in the Capital for every Town.)[/p]
  • [p]Cursus Honorum: +1 Culture on Diplomacy and Military Buildings. (Previously: Training an Infantry Unit grants Culture equal to 25% of the Unit’s Production cost.)[/p]
  • [p]Latinitas: +1 Food, Gold, and Culture in Towns, or +2 in Fort Towns. (Previously: +5% Food, Gold, and Culture in Towns without a Growing Town Focus.)[/p]
  • [p]Basilica:  Roman Unique Diplomacy Building. +3 Influence. +1 Gold Adjacency for Culture Buildings and Wonders. Ageless. (Previously: Roman Unique Gold Building. +3 Gold. +1 Influence. Ageless.) [/p][p][/p]
• [p]Buganda[/p]
  • [p]River Raids: Receive additional Culture when pillaging Buildings or Improvements equal to the Yield or Healing gained. Land Units gain the Amphibious keyword (maintains combat strength while embarked, no movement penalty for embarking or disembarking). Civilian and Support gain +3 Movement Speed while Embarked. (Previously: Receive additional Culture when pillaging Buildings or Improvements equal to the Yield or Healing gained. Land Units gain the Amphibious keyword (maintains combat strength while embarked, no movement penalty for embarking or disembarking.))[/p]
  [p][/p]
• [p]Carthage[/p]
  • [p]Shipsheds (Tier 2): +5 Combat Strength for Naval Units at Full Health. (Previously: +1 Range for Naval Units)[/p]
    • [p]Dev Note: With our recent change to Naval Units and giving Light/Heavy Naval Units their own identities, this ability had to get updated.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Songhai[/p]
  • [p]Songhai Unique Ability now correctly provides Production only to Cities on Navigable Rivers when assigning Resources to them.[/p]
  • [p]Updated the description for Songhai Tradition Timbuktu.[/p][p]
    [/p]
• [p]Mughal Gardens of Paradise (Tier 1): You can purchase Wonders with Gold, but they are more expensive.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Alignment & Spacing[/h2]

• [p]Improved the UI for the Espionage Report Window,[/p]
• [p]Improved the UI for Leader Level, fixing overlap on Leader Portraits when viewing the Challenges Progress Menu.[/p]
• [p]The scroll bar no longer moves beyond the intended area when clicking and dragging it downwards in the Advanced Options Menu.[/p]
• [p]The leader’s portrait and support bar no longer appear misaligned on Super Wide (3840 x 1600) resolution when supporting another leader’s war.
  [/p]

[h2]Controller Specific[/h2]

• [p]The right node will no longer be highlighted when the player picks the left node in the Attribute Tree when using the Handheld Viewing Experience option.
  [/p]

[h2]Civilopedia[/h2]

• [p]Added an entry for Pirating.[/p]
• [p]The Marine Unique Unit and Terrain now appear as unique entries when searching “Marine” in the Civilopedia.[/p]
• [p]Happiness accumulation during a Celebration is now clarified properly when viewing the entry for Celebration in the Civilopedia.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]General[/h2]

• [p]Modders can now make additions to the Options Screen.[/p]
• [p]Selecting a Merchant now properly displays possible Trade Routes.[/p]
• [p]The 'Naval Attack' action for Naval Units is no longer missing the red arrow preview when selecting the action and targeting Hostile Units.[/p]
• [p]The Settler Lens no longer remains active when opening the Settlement growth panel.[/p]
• [p]Added the Pirate Ability icon to Independent Powers’ Privateer Units.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial welcome messages now properly show when starting an Antiquity Age game with tutorials enabled.[/p]
• [p]The health bar now correctly disappears when a District reaches full health.[/p]
• [p]Replaced incorrect art for the unlocked Amina banner in the Foundation and Leader banner unlocks when viewed in the “Your Progress” screen.[/p]
• [p]Downloadable content now correctly appears when viewing the config file in the Save Config menu.[/p]
• [p]The unmet leader’s portrait is no longer empty when attempting to form an alliance with a leader that is at war with an unmet leader.[/p]
• [p]The game resolution setting now properly reverts to the default “Auto” when the player selects to reset the graphics tab in Options.[/p]
• [p]Addressed a reported issue regarding a hard crash that could occur when changing ‘Intel XeSS Frame Generation’ and ‘Intel Xe Low Latency’ settings in Options menu.
  [/p]

[h2]Text Changes[/h2]

• [p]Buccaneer’s Coordinated Attack/Focus Fire will now display text that the player must be at war with a Unit in Command Radius if the action fails. [/p]
• [p]Antiquity and Exploration Age Social Policies that grant Yields to Buildings now properly specify that they only work for current Age Buildings and not ones from previous Ages.[/p]
• [p]Names are no longer missing for Unique Units and Buildings when viewing a civ description in a Multiplayer lobby.[/p]
• [p]Made various text improvements and fixes.
  [/p]

[h2]Tooltips[/h2]

• [p]Added information about the Unit respawning after being defeated in the Aircraft Carrier Unit tooltip.[/p]
• [p]Units are now properly referred to as 'Units' when viewing the Fleet Commander's Assemble Army ability tooltip.[/p]
• [p]In Progress information now appears correctly when hovering over a Wonder that is being built.[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]The voice over for the Centralism Civic now matches the displayed quote.[/p]
• [p]Made several additions to UI audio, including audio when plundering a trade route, the notification for receiving a Great Work, and the notification for discovering a Discover Tile.[/p]
• [p]Added music and SFX for the Sultanahmet Camil Wonder.[/p]
• [p]Added SFX for Library of Alexandria Wonder.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Tides of Power Collection** – Part Two[/h2][h2][/h2][p]Introducing the second half of our sea-themed Content Collection, Tides of Power**!
[/p][p]As a special thanks to all our players who've been with us playing the game, providing feedback, creating content, and more, this collection will be free to claim* for Civilization VII players until January 5, 2026. After this, it will be available for purchase.[/p][p][/p][p]The second part of this Collection drops with today’s update, and introduces the new leader Sayyida al Hurra, along with the Ottomans and Iceland civs.[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Leaders[/h2][p](Tides of Power DLC**) Added new leader Sayidda al Hurra.
[/p][p]In the wake of Granada's fall, Sayyida al Hurra rose as Morocco's champion to challenge Iberian power in North Africa. As the sole ruler of Tétouan, she was a fierce diplomat who strong-armed the Europeans in their native tongues and earned their admiration. When talks failed, she turned to the Barbary corsairs, forging alliances with famed pirates who kept her waters safe and her city wealthy.
[/p]

• [p]Attributes: Diplomatic, Militaristic[/p]
• [p]Unique Ability – Hakima Tatwan: Receive a Naval Unit every time you complete an Espionage Action. Naval Units stationed on a District provide increased Culture and increased Influence per Age. No Influence penalty for your Espionage being revealed. Opponents cannot use Counter Spy against you.[/p]

• [p]Agenda – Wattasid Dynasty: Decrease Relationship by a Medium Amount with leaders who have the most Naval Units on the map. Increase Relationship by a Small Amount with leaders who have the least Naval Units on the map.[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Civilizations[/h2][p][/p][h3](Tides of Power DLC**) Added new Exploration Age civilization Iceland.[/h3][p]On a volcanic, windswept island, the Icelanders forged a commonwealth of chieftains and warriors, lawyers and scholars. Icelandic longships ranged far and wide – Vikings terrorized Europe’s rivers and coasts as explorers roamed North America. Poets and saga-writers preserved their deeds alongside tales of gods, saints, and heroes. Centuries of independence held until Iceland, weakened by civil war, submitted to Norway.[/p]

• [p]Attributes: Militaristic, Cultural[/p]
• [p]Unique Ability – Kringla Heimsins: Receive a set amount of Culture when you discover a Natural Wonder in Distant Lands (effect scales based on game speed). Missionaries cost a set percentage more.[/p]
• [p]Unique Civilian Unit – Saga Hero: Great Person. Trainable in Settlements with a Þingstaðr.[/p]
• [p]Unique Military Unit – Víkingr: Unique Naval Unit. Coastal Raiding grants Science equal to a set percentage the Pillaging Yield. Has increased Sight.[/p]
• [p]Associated Wonder – Reykjaholt: Culture Base. Increased Production towards Military Units in this City for every Great Work in this City. Has a set number of Relic Slots. Must be placed in Tundra.[/p]

[p]
[/p][h3](Tides of Power DLC**) Added new Modern Age civilization Ottomans.[/h3][p]From the shores of the Bosphorus, the Ottomans ruled an empire spanning six centuries and three continents. By the 19th century, the world's wealth flowed through the Grand Bazaar and the Ottoman navy ruled the seas. Tension between the religious and the secular prompted major reforms to reforge the Ottomans for a new era. But these changes came too late, and the empire gave way to the modern Republic of Türkiye.[/p]

• [p]Attributes: Militaristic, Cultural[/p]
• [p]Unique Ability – Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye: When any leader Excavates an Artifact in the Ottomans' territory, they generate an additional Artifact. Infantry and Naval Units receive increased Combat Strength when attacking.[/p]
• [p]Unique Military Unit – Barbary Corsair: Unique Light Naval Unit. It costs no Movement to Coastal Raid.[/p]
• [p]Unique Military Unit – Janissary: Unique Infantry. Increased Combat Strength against other Land Units. Settlements suffer a Happiness penalty for every Janissary stationed in or occupying a District.[/p]
• [p]Associated Wonder – Sultanahmet Camii: Happiness base. Wonders in this Settlement receive increased Culture and Gold. This is increased further for Exploration Wonders and even further for Antiquity Wonders. Must be built adjacent to another Wonder.[/p]

[p][/p][p]*Offer available for owners of Civilization VII. Offer ends January 5, 2026 at 7:59am PT. Owners must claim offer between November 4, 2025 and January 5, 2025 at 7:59am PT. For details on how to claim offer go to www.civilization.com. Terms apply.[/p][p]**Base game required. Each DLC will be delivered automatically in-game on release. Terms apply.[/p][p]
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