Civilization 6’s New Frontier Season Pass is almost at an end, having brought a years' worth of bimonthly DLC packs to the historical strategy game. However, the New Frontier Pass was far from the first DLC to be released forCivilization 6.
Civilization 6originally launched for PC in 2016. Since that time, the game has received two major expansions and over a dozen smaller DLC packs. WhileCiv 6’s DLC packshave had a smaller impact on the game, the two expansions introduced powerful new systems and made sweeping gameplay changes.
Rise and Fall
The first expansion pack forCivilization 6was Rise and Fall, which released a year and a half after the game’s original launch. Rise and Fall came with a huge amount of new content, ranging from systems that affect the entire game to new Civilizations and Natural Wonders:
Overall, the Rise and Fall expansion was well-named, focusing its new features on the natural rise and fall of Civilizations throughout the game. To do this, Firaxis added systems to combat snow-balling, like Loyalty and Emergencies, to give players who had fallen behind a chance to catch up. In addition, Rise and Fall added more storytelling elements through the Great Ages and Era Score system, allowing players to look back on theirCivilization’s Dark or Heroic past.
Gathering Storm
The second major expansion pack to be released wasCivilization 6: Gathering Storm. Just like its predecessor, Gathering Storm focuses on a theme, adding a variety of new content based around it. In Gathering Storm the theme is the natural world, its dangers, and the influence that human Civilizations can have upon it:
Just like Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm is aCivilization 6expansion that not only sticks to a theme, but also addresses issues in the base game. The environmental effects add a random element to play, forcing players to adapt rather than stick to a single winning strategy. This philosophy can also be seen in the Climate Change system, which punishes players for taking the powerful but environmentally destructive options. Finally, the return ofCivilization 5’s World Congressgives players a new way to interact with other Civilizations, forcing even isolationist Civilizations onto the world stage.
DLC and the Future
While Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm are the only major expansions to be released forCivilization 6, there have also been over a dozen DLC packs. These smaller packs have addednew Civilizations and Leaders, as well as new buildings, game-modes, and playstyles. However, none of them have made such sweeping changes to gameplay ofCivilization 6as the two expansions.
It’s still unclear whether there will be any future DLC after the end ofCivilization 6’s New Frontier Pass. Despite this, it’s unlikely that any more major expansions will be coming for Firaxis' historical strategy at this stage.
Civilization 6is available now for Linux, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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