As the acclaimed strategy game Civilization 7 continues to underperform, developer Firaxis Games has confirmed that an unspecified number of employees have been let go. The news first broke when Emma Kidwell, a writer on Civilization 7 with previous credits on the tactical RPG Marvel’s Midnight Suns, reported the cuts on social media. Several other Firaxis employees later shared similar messages.
Publisher 2K Games subsequently confirmed the staff reductions at the studio. In a statement, a 2K spokesperson said, “There was a staff reduction today at Firaxis Games, as the studio restructures and optimizes its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity.” The company declined to comment on the exact number of people affected by the layoffs.
Civilization 7’s Current Performance Challenges
A pressing issue for Firaxis is the ongoing performance of its latest title. The highly anticipated Civilization 7 currently holds “mixed” reviews on Steam, a rating which, according to data from SteamDB, has been trending in the wrong direction. Furthermore, concurrent player counts for this new installment continue to lag significantly behind its predecessors, Civilization 6 and even Civilization 5, a game that is now 15 years old.
Previous Commercial Disappointment: Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Civilization 7 is not the only recent challenge for Firaxis. The studio’s previous major release, the critically praised Marvel’s Midnight Suns, was unfortunately a commercial flop. This underperformance led to the game receiving only a single season of post-launch content and the cancellation of its planned Nintendo Switch release. The commercial woes of that title resulted in a previous round of layoffs at Firaxis in 2023, which likely contributed to the developer’s decision to return to the perceived safety of the established Civilization franchise.
The Absence of XCOM 3 and Broader Industry Trends
Amidst these challenges, there remains no sign of XCOM 3, which continues to be a distant dream for fans despite the excellence and success of its predecessor, the tactical strategy game XCOM 2, now approaching its 10th anniversary. As we at Digital Tech Explorer observe these developments, the struggles of a major studio like Firaxis powerfully reflect the current turbulent state of the videogame industry as a whole, where very few titles, even within beloved franchises, are guaranteed commercial successes. This situation underscores the critical need for studios to adapt and innovate in an increasingly competitive market.
Despite the layoffs and the game’s current struggles, 2K has stated that these events do not signal a move away from the title. “2K and Firaxis are committed to realizing the promise of Civilization 7 and continue to work hard on title updates and patches to ensure it aligns with the needs of our players,” the representative stated. “The Civilization franchise is and has always been about long-term opportunity, and we remain confident in its potential.”