Civilization 7 Free Arc of Tomorrow Update Adds the Atomic Age in 2027, Paid Expansion Earthrise Charts the Space Race

Firaxis Games and 2K have laid out the next phase of Sid Meier's Civilization VII, with two pieces of content planned for 2027: a free major update called "Arc of Tomorrow" that finally adds an Atomic Age to the 4X strategy game, and Civilization VII: Earthrise, the franchise's first paid expansion, themed around the space race and humanity's expansion across the solar system.

The news was shared by Civilization franchise creative director Ed Beach in a 35th anniversary post on the official Civilization VII site, timed to the developer's PAX West 2026 panel in Seattle. The full panel discussion is available on the official Civilization YouTube channel and the full announcement is in the 35th Anniversary Reveals post on the official Firaxis / 2K site.

Arc of Tomorrow is the larger of the two reveals and introduces a brand-new fourth Age to Civilization VII, extending the playable timeline from Antiquity and Exploration through the Modern Age and into an Atomic Age that runs from the 1950s to roughly 2050. Firaxis says the update will be "even bigger in scope" than last year's Test of Time patch and will include period-specific buildings, units, visuals, music, civilizations and leaders. New Atomic Age gameplay systems teased include expanded nuclear options with a new spin on mutually assured destruction, multilateral agreements that let leaders collectively respond to nuclear stockpiles, proxy warfare through city-states, the ability to transform your own settlements into new city-states, manufactured goods like Enriched Uranium, and a Great Works of Film system that turns your civilization's film crews into strategic assets.

Earthrise, the first paid expansion, takes the space race as its central theme and is being developed in the same spirit as Civilization V's Brave New World and Civilization VI's Gathering Storm. Across the Antiquity and Exploration Ages, players will chart the night sky and name celestial bodies; in the Modern Age, they will launch early orbital missions around Earth and the Moon; and in the Atomic Age, they will found a space agency, run missions across the solar system and bring planetary resources back home. New unit abilities and technologies also let empires alter terrain and tile bonuses, with civil engineering structures designed to fight back against intensifying natural disasters as global temperatures rise, including mechanics that let players actually reverse the warming itself. More civilizations, leaders and systems will be revealed later.

Update 1.5.0 will arrive first, later this month, and ships the long-requested True Start Location Earth map, two new Voronoi maps called Terra Incognita and Shuffle, faster map loading, expanded diplomacy options, and a pass of UI improvements including a new tile ruler. Firaxis will then move into a lighter update cadence as the team focuses on Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise, with the first round of Arc of Tomorrow playtesting due to begin later this year through the Firaxis Feature Workshop. Civ VII is free-to-play on Steam until September 10 and discounted 50% through September 17.

Civilization VII: Earthrise is available to wishlist via the official store page, with the exact release date for both Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise still to be announced.