Strategy · October 23, 2014

Sid Meier’s Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ (2014)

trophy90 achievementsextension2 DLClocal_offer-75% current discountgroup1M–10M ownerstrending_up268 peak concurrentrecommend13.8k recommendations
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is a new science-fiction-themed entry into the award-winning Civilization series. Set in the future, global events have destabilized the world leading to a collapse of modern society, a new world order and an uncertain future for humanity. As the human race struggles to recover, the re-developed nations focus their resources on deep space travel to chart a new beginning for mankind. As part of an expedition sent to find a home beyond Earth, you will write the next chapter for humanity as you lead your people into a new frontier and create a new civilization in space. Explore and colonize an alien planet, research new technologies, amass mighty armies, build incredible Wonders and shape the face of your new world. As you embark on your journey you must make critical decisions. From your choice of sponsor and the make-up of your colony, to the ultimate path you choose for your civilization, every decision opens up new possibilities. Features Seed the Adventure: Establish your cultural identity by choosing one of eight different expedition sponsors, each with its own leader and unique gameplay benefits. Assemble your spacecraft, cargo & colonists through a series of choices that directly seed the starting conditions when arriving at the new planet. Colonize an Alien World: Explore the dangers and benefits of a new planet filled with dangerous terrain, mystical resources, and hostile life forms unlike those of Earth. Build outposts, unearth ancient alien relics, tame new forms of life, develop flourishing cities and establish trade routes to create prosperity for your people. Technology Web: To reflect progress forward into an uncertain future, technology advancement occurs through a series of nonlinear choices that affect the development of mankind. The technology web is organized around three broad themes, each with a distinct victory condition. Orbital Layer: Build and deploy advanced military, economic and scientific satellites that provide strategic offensive, defensive and support capabilities from orbit. Unit Customization: Unlock different upgrades through the tech web and customize your units to reflect your play style. Multiplayer: Up to 8 players can compete for dominance of a new alien world. Mod support: Robust mod support allows you to customize and extend your game experience.

Position in Strategy

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume22.6k Steam reviewsTop 21% in Strategy
Positive rating60% positiveGenre average: 84% — this title sits in top 96%
Metacritic81/100Genre average 79 — top 40% of Strategy titles
Concurrent peak268 playersTop 39% in Strategy by live player count
Engagement hours32 h averageTop 31% for session depth among Strategy

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Strategy · 945
  • Turn-Based Strategy · 823
  • Sci-fi · 696
  • Space · 545
  • 4X · 511
  • Turn-Based · 490
  • Multiplayer · 437
  • Futuristic · 401
  • Singleplayer · 399
  • Aliens · 338
  • Hex Grid · 303
  • Tactical · 300
  • Grand Strategy · 282
  • Replay Value · 253
  • Exploration · 224

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (10)

  • English volume_up
  • French volume_up
  • Italian volume_up
  • German volume_up
  • Spanish - Spain volume_up
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Polish volume_up
  • Russian volume_up
  • Traditional Chinese volume_up

Full audio (8)

  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Polish
  • Russian
  • Traditional Chinese

Reception Metrics

Steam community

60%Mixed · 22.6k reviews

13.5k positive · 9.0k negative

Metacritic

81/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

5.5/10

Curator recommendations

13.8k

Peak concurrent players

268

Peer Strategy titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Press Quotes

“A must play for strategy fans” 9 out of 10 – GAME INFORMER “Successfully injects new life into Sid Meier's long-running strategy series” 9 out of 10 – POLYGON “Stellar” 9 out of 10 – DESTRUCTOID

Features & Capabilities

Multiplayer

  • Multi-player

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Workshop
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on Tablet

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateOct 23, 2014
DeveloperFiraxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)
Publisher2K, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)
Base price$9.99 -75%
DLC / Add-ons2 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

32h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

13h

Typical completion time

Achievements

90

Steam unlocks available

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Editions & Packages

  • Buy Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™