Civilization VII adds an Atomic Age and space expansion in 2027

Firaxis Games announced a massive 2027 roadmap for Sid Meier's Civilization VII at PAX West today, revealing a free "Arc of Tomorrow" update and a paid "Earthrise" expansion. The announcement came during the franchise's 35th-anniversary panel at the Seattle Convention Center.

I've been playing Civ since Civ 1, and I love every one of them. The seventh mainline entry shook things up when it launched in February 2025 by dividing campaigns into distinct historical eras, which meant players had to swap civilizations as time marched on. It originally shipped with just the Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Ages. These new 2027 additions build directly on that foundation by extending the timeline forward.

The Atomic Age arrives for free

The Arc of Tomorrow update adds a fourth playable era called the Atomic Age, covering the timeline from the 1950s through the 2050s. It brings back Mahatma Gandhi as a playable leader. It also overhauls the nuclear deterrence systems and expands how players interact with city-states during the late game.

According to 2K Games, the Arc of Tomorrow update will be free for all players. Firaxis is running a playtesting initiative called the Firaxis Feature Workshop to get early feedback on the new mechanics before the official rollout in 2027.

Earthrise leaves the planet

While the free update handles the Cold War and near-future politics, the paid Earthrise expansion takes the late game off the planet entirely. It releases later in 2027. Earthrise introduces space agencies and tasks players with charting the stars and launching missions across the solar system.

Players have been asking for deeper late-game mechanics since the game launched last year. Firaxis addressed some of those requests with the 1.4 Test of Time update in May 2026, but a dedicated space expansion provides a much larger canvas for the final turns of a campaign.

Both the update and the expansion are coming to all of the game's current platforms. That's PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch 2, macOS, and Linux.

35 years of one more turn

The PAX West panel doubled as a celebration of the franchise's 35th anniversary. Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley launched the original 4X strategy game at MicroProse in 1991. Firaxis formed in 1996 and has stewarded the series ever since, alongside the rebooted XCOM games and Marvel's Midnight Suns.

Pricing for the Earthrise expansion isn't available yet, but the Arc of Tomorrow update won't cost anything when it drops next year. We'll likely see more gameplay footage as the playtests begin.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII is available on Humble Bundle for $34.99 (50% off).

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