Firaxis Announces Civ VI’s Last Free Update “of the Season”

We meet again, my fellow Sid Meier’s Civilization fans. Thanks to the existence of a video that was uploaded yesterday to the official Civilization YouTube channel, it seems we’ve got a bit more to discuss. The video brings news of an upcoming free update that will add several new aspects to the game, as well as introduce balance changes to existing Civs. I think, just for fun, I’ll start with the changes that have me the most excited. Then we can work our way down to the more technical stuff.

Firstly, those of you who enjoy playing Civilization VI on any of its various “True Start”-style maps will be glad to know that the update will bring two new True Start maps to the game. The first of these is a True Start Mediterranean map for players who enjoy controlling Civs that hail from that region.

The second new map type is particularly near and dear to my heart because, as I’m sure many of you know, the “True Start Location Earth” map type has always been locked to the “standard” map size. Thankfully, this update will make that no longer the case. The April 2021 update will finally add a version of the map type in question that can be played on a “Huge”-sized map. This enables the specific map type to accommodate more players in any given game.

The second aspect of this free update comes in the form of three new military units that will be available to every Civilization in the game. These units are known as the Line Infantry, the Man-at-Arms, and the Trebuchet. Firaxis made it clear in the aforementioned video that the latter of these was the most-requested new unit in terms of popular demand.

Personally, I must agree with the crowd on that one. I’ve always thought it odd that there wasn’t a more immediate replacement for the Catapult in terms of siege units, but it seems this discrepancy will now be rectified. I feel compelled to mention that it took Firaxis until Civilization VI’s first expansion, Rise and Fall, to implement the Pike and Shot unit in order to allow players to upgrade their Pikemen sooner than was previously possible. As such, the Trebuchet’s rather fashionably late appearance is quite welcome in my opinion.

Next up, the update introduces quite a few balance changes to existing Civs. Firaxis was careful to note in their video that some of these updates and tweaks apply to Civs and leaders that aren’t part of the base game. I’d suggest keeping that in mind just as a precaution if you don’t own all the game’s available DLC.

The first update Firaxis mentioned concerns Spain. This update will enable Spain to form Fleets and Armadas upon researching Mercantilism rather than the later techs and civics that would normally be required. Additionally, Spain will also receive bonus Gold, Faith, and Production from trade routes. To quote Firaxis directly, “trade routes between multiple continents further boost these returns. Cities not on Spain’s home continent receive increased Production towards Districts and a free Builder when founded.”

The next set of updates applies to the Khmer empire. With the April 2021 update, this Civ will now receive bonus Faith per population, and bonus Amenities granted to cities which contain Aqueducts. Furthermore, farms in the Khmer empire provide additional Food when adjacent to an Aqueduct, as well as additional Faith when adjacent to a Holy Site district.

Finally, the Khmer leader, Jayavarman VII, has received updates to his passive leader-specific ability. Once this patch is live, Holy Sites in Khmer territory will receive major adjacency bonuses to rivers, as well as bonus Food equal to the Holy Site’s adjacency bonus.

A further update applies to China. From the date that this patch goes live, whenever China completes a World Wonder, they will also automatically receive a random Eureka and Inspiration from that wonder’s era. Firaxis explains that this change “maintains China’s wonder-building tendencies regardless of era or whether Qin Shi Huang or Kublai Khan leads them.”

There’s a fair bit more to cover from the video Firaxis released yesterday, but the final set of tweaks I’ll mention in this article applies to the Canadian empire. It appears that good old Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier has been researching how to further increase the boosts he provides his homeland via his passive ability.

I say that because the ability now provides significantly boosted yields from farms, camps, lumber mills, and mines that are constructed on snow and tundra tiles. What’s more, Canada’s unique military unit, the Mountie, will be made cheaper to build with this update. It will also be able to create one additional National Park before running out of charges that allow it to do so.

There you have it, my friends! As I alluded to a moment ago, there are a couple of things I omitted from this article for brevity’s sake. If you want to watch the video I’ve been referencing throughout this piece, you can do so below. The update is scheduled to be released on Thursday, April 22, 2021. Before I sign off, however, I want to attempt to spark a discussion.

As you gleaned from this article’s title, Firaxis has designated the April 2021 update the last “of the season.” What do you make of that? Could we have a second season pass on the horizon, or perhaps an entire third expansion? Alternatively, could Firaxis have precisely nothing up their sleeves and simply worded the message like that to tease us? Please feel free to share your thoughts in this article’s comments if you’re so inclined!