4X Stardock CEO thinks Civilization VI will be released in 2016

[Spectacle]

I just found this blog post by Stardock's Brad Wardell where he claims inside knowledge of upcoming 4X's, including an unannounced Civ 6:

Be careful what you wish for.

Next year all the 4X’s are going to come out. What I write below is not under some NDA. I know it because it’s my job to know it.

Let me walk you through the schedule:

1H2016: Stellaris, Master of Orion

2H2016: Civilization VI, Endless Space 2

I could be wrong on the dates. You could swap some of this around a bit but you get the idea.

http://forums.galciv3.com/?aid=474109

It's been a while since Civ 5 so it's not implausible that we get a new Civilization game, but this sounds highly speculative. Wardell seems to be rather sure though, so it's worth discussing. Maybe he does have magic gamedev CEO divination powers.

However it is I hope that Firaxis has realized that 1UPT was a huge mistake.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

This close to release, they'd be hyping the shit out of it, since that's what sells modern games. So I doubt it. If it was in the works, 2H2017 would be more plausible. 1H2017 at the earliest.

 

[Infinitron]

Maybe Bethesda-style "complete radio silence until six months before release" is the new normal.

 

[deuxhero]

But will it be better than Civilization 5 with the Brave New World expansion pack?

 

[Malakal]

But will it be better than Civilization 5 with the Brave New World expansion pack?

Not hard to achieve.

 

[Hellraiser]

But will it be better than Civilization 5 with the Brave New World expansion pack?

Not hard to achieve.

We're talking about Firaxis, the same one that gave us Civ: Beyond Earth. Knowing them they'll axe the tech tree and just replace it with a tech progress bar that unlocks units and buildings.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Maybe Bethesda-style "complete radio silence until six months before release" is the new normal.

For Civilization: Beyond Earth, the announcement was in April and the release in October. You could of course say, that a mod doesn't need an extensive media campaign. (I just checked, Civ 5 was announced in February and released September.)

 

[Turisas]

Not hard to achieve.

But for Firaxis? Nigh impossible.

 

[Eirikur]

I'm so starved for sci-fi TBS games that I'm actually playing Beyond Earth: Rising Tide now. Stellaris can't come soon enough.

 

[Polanski]

I'm so starved for sci-fi RTS games that I'm actually playing Beyond Earth: Rising Tide now. Stellaris can't come soon enough.

But neither of those are RTS.. Did you consider Starcraft II?
(just being a dick, you probably mean TBS)

 

[Space Satan]

Galactic Civilizations IV: Electric Boogaloo
Anyway, ANYTHING will be better than CivV, which is the bottom of the franchize, sharing it with beyond Earth.

 

[Nahel]

After CIV 5, i am not sure it is a really good news....

 

[Eyestabber]

Civ IV was the last Civilization game. Accept it and move on with your lives.

 

[Metro]

Why would they stop making a franchise that nets them tens of millions of dollars?

 

[Nahel]

Total War and Firaxis used to compete to make awesome strategy games...Now they compete to do the greatest decline and screw their consumers! And they make more money as ever...

 

[tindrli]

i want a new Sid Meier's Pirates!!!!!!!

 

[Jimmious]

I never got the hate for Civ V. Is because it finally had combat that is not just stack vs stack?
I liked that change.
Sure the game had bugs and crappy AI at relase but after DLCs etc it's pretty fine imo

 

[Turisas]

I never got the hate for Civ V. Is because it finally had combat that is not just stack vs stack?
I liked that change.
Sure the game had bugs and crappy AI at relase but after DLCs etc it's pretty fine imo

And the neutered, nonsensical diplomacy, plus shitty watered down religions & espionage.

 

[flyingjohn]

I never got the hate for Civ V. Is because it finally had combat that is not just stack vs stack?
I liked that change.
Sure the game had bugs and crappy AI at relase but after DLCs etc it's pretty fine imo

The ai makes the game unplayable for both combat and diplomacy,there is only one way to play the game without gimping yourself(thanks to tech tree and social policies inbalance),those are pretty big problems for any single player 4x game.

 

[Jimmious]

I've still to find a 4x with good AI though.. GalCiv2 was decent I guess after all the patching but still exploitable.

 

[Malakal]

I never got the hate for Civ V. Is because it finally had combat that is not just stack vs stack?
I liked that change.
Sure the game had bugs and crappy AI at relase but after DLCs etc it's pretty fine imo

If spending hundreds of turns doing nothing is your thing then maybe. Because thats what happens in civ5, you click end turn repeatedly and nothing ever happens.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

If spending hundreds of turns doing nothing is your thing then maybe. Because thats what happens in civ5, you click end turn repeatedly and nothing ever happens.

It's just a technical limitation of an outdated concept. Reliable sources say that in Civ6 "End Turn" will be replaced with an "Awesome" button and combat will become more visceral.

 

[Perkel]

Get civ4 core gameplay, improve diplomacy, work on AI to be more humanlike (make mistakes, play long targets), no unit stack from Civ5, Civ3, double cost of units + "quick policies" that will give you ability to muster some army at expense of long therm profits like in EU

 

[BlackAdderBG]

SoD complains are triggering me every fuckin time,it's like "No denying in LoL made for better game,coz I'm fuckin casual" argument.

 

[Jimmious]

SoD complains are triggering me every fuckin time,it's like "No denying in LoL made for better game,coz I'm fuckin casual" argument.

What do you consider more casual in this metaphor, SoD or actual units with placement importance etc? I honestly don't get it, not trying to be edgy