If I’ve learned anything from the decade of my life I’ve poured into Sid Meier’s magnum opus, it’s that life is never easy if you’re hell bent on guiding your nation through a peaceful course of prosperity, science and trade.

One of the new features being added in the upcoming ‘Brave New World’ expansion for Civilization V is culture and tourism elements. You can read more about these and how they work in our massive Civilization V interview with Dennis Shirk from Firaxis — or you can watch the video below! Or both. Maybe do both.

We sat down to have a chat with Dennis Shirk, lead producer on Civilization 5 at Fireaxis, about the upcoming expansion Brave New World — but, well, I couldn’t resist asking a few questions about what the hell went wrong with the AI, and why so many core gameplay features ended up transposed into DLC. Read on for all the details.

Coming out of PAX East over the weekend is the news that the recent-revealed Brave New World expansion for Civilization V (read all the details here) has been given a release date of July 12 (or July 9, if you’re in the US).

Meanwhile, Firaxis also took the opportunity at PAX to tease a new project with a very brief trailer, showing a shadowy figure who claims “The war continues at great cost. We now believe another force is at work against us. If not dealt with swiftly, it could destroy us,” before being cut off and replaced with the words ‘SIGNAL LOST’ in a very XCOM-like font.

So! XCOM expansion, or something more? Stay tuned.

Source: PC Gamer and Kotaku

Having opened a whole bunch of religious options with Gods & Kings, Firaxis has produced a second major expansion pack for Civilization V. Brave New World is all about how your fledgling nation interacts with global culture, which is good news for peacemakers and political schemers alike.

The big new addition is a new kind of culture victory. You’ll be able to use Great Artists, Writers and Musicians to place masterpieces in key buildings, send Archaeologists to ruins and battlefields to score treasures, and spread your influence to all other nations to score a win.

Diplomacy also gets a look in thanks to the new World Congress. City-states will be more important now that they can veto your grand plans, and the balance of votes can change the political scene markedly – especially if you’ve taken advantage of the new internation trade route feature.

The expansion also adds a bunch of more prosaic goodies; new civilisations, units, buildings, wonders, and two new scenarios – Scramble for Africa and the American Civil War.

Sharp-eyed trawlers of the Steam Database have spotted an expansion in the works for Civilization V by the name of ‘One World’.

The listing includes both expansion content and an executable file. 2K have refused to comment on the matter, which basically means at this point that it’s true and we’ll be seeing an official announcement soon.

There’s no information about what it could possibly be, although with a name like ‘One World’ one might be inclined to assume it’s got some sort of peace, diplomacy or perhaps hippie elements.

Source: PCGamesN

Civilization V is a big game, and it’s already had a number of big patches — which is probably why 2K are quite comfortable with delivering yet another monster patch. This “Fall patch” has a staggering number of bug fixes and balance changes, but also includes Windows 8 and Ultrabook support features.

Check out the full details below.

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The new expansion for Civilization V, Gods and Kings brought with it its own slew of troubles. Now, Firaxis has released a new patch for the game, that will solve a pretty impressive list of problems, many of which resulted in crashed games. Make sure you check out the patch notes for a full list of fixes.

Source: Steam Store

The expansion pack for Civilization V, Gods & Kings, offers a return of the religion and espionage mechanics, as well as a bunch of welcome overhauls. But at $50, it’s an expensive investment. James Pinnell investigates.

Sick of using the existing mod browser system in Civilization V? Never fear, as the game will soon be integrated wholly into the new Steam Workshop system. As announced on the 2K Games website, the move will be part of the upcoming Gods & Kings expansion pack, and is designed to further promote and encourage the mod community.

Source: 2K Games