Strauss Zelnick Praises Civ 7 Amid High Steam Play for Civ 6 & 5

Civilization 7's Steam launch has faced significant challenges—that much is evident. Since its February release, the strategy sequel has struggled to retain players on Valve's platform. Steam user reviews currently label it as "mixed," and despite multiple patches from developer Firaxis aimed at improving reception, Civilization 7 now finds itself outperformed on Steam by both Civilization 6 and the decade-and-a-half-old Civilization 5.

Of course, Steam alone doesn't tell the full story—the game also launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch (with an optimized Switch 2 version leveraging Joy-Con mouse controls coming soon). Yet PC remains Civilization's core platform, and there, Civ 7 continues to underperform.

Given these circumstances, one might expect dissatisfaction from Firaxis' parent company Take-Two. However, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed enthusiasm during a pre-earnings interview with IGN, stating he remains "thrilled" with Civ 7's progress.

"I'm thrilled with Civ 7's current trajectory," Zelnick noted. "While initial challenges emerged, our Firaxis team has delivered impactful fixes. More enhancements are underway, and I'm confident we'll meet player expectations, ultimately establishing this as another successful franchise entry."

The CEO highlighted Civilization's trademark extended sales cycle compared to other franchises, predicting Civ 7 will follow this pattern.

"Historically, every Civilization release initially meets some resistance—our passionate community deeply cares about this franchise," he explained.

"Players eventually recognize the improvements, and over time, we see strong performance. I anticipate the same outcome here.

"Naturally, we encountered early issues that we've partially resolved and continue addressing."

At launch, players critiqued Civ 7's UI shortcomings, limited map diversity, and perceived absence of expected franchise staples.

Zelnick's reference to "nervous" longtime fans acknowledges Firaxis' bold gameplay innovations.

Civ 7 introduces a three-Age campaign structure (Antiquity, Exploration, Modern) featuring synchronized Age Transitions—a first for the series. These transitions involve selecting new civilizations, retaining Legacies, and witnessing world evolution. While unprecedented, Zelnick remains confident fans will embrace this system long-term.

Take-Two hasn't disclosed sales figures but noted expansion efforts including Civilization 7 VR for Meta Quest 3/3S and the forthcoming Switch 2 version.