Civilization 7 devs Firaxis finally slap a release date on the Test of Time update, acting on "over a year's worth of listening" to moans about the Age system

The ability to play as one civ through an entire game arrives midway through May

Firaxis are finally ready to fire the nuke that is Civ 7's free Test of Time update, the strategy game's "biggest and most fundamentally game-changing" revamp yet. The update, headlined by the ability to bypass the Age system and play as one society through an entire game in classic Civ fashion, will arrive on May 19th.

Firaxis have announced as much via a blog post, while also offering a bunch more detail about the update's additions. "Our intent was to synthesise over a year's worth of listening, iteration, and playtesting into a one massive, free update that exists in tandem with the many smaller-yet-meaningful updates already released since launch," the studio wrote.

Then, they got down to brass tacks. There are three major changes, with the first naturally being the option to play as one Civ through a whole game. The choice between "adopting the Unique Units or Infrastructure from another civilization that's currently in its Apex Age" via a system dubbed Syncretism or doubling down on "what makes your civ unique" via a mechanic called Affirmation. The devs offered a bit more detail as to how these work earlier this year.

Alongside that is the introduction of a new victory system designed to offer more branching paths and "reward your dominance throughout an entire game". Then, there's the swapping of Legacy Paths for a Triumphs system which adds a bunch of optional objectives that pop up as you go, pushing you to increase your militaristic, cultural, scientific, economic, diplomatic, and expansionist prowess.

All in all, I'd say it sounds a lot more complex than a simple rolling back to the exact old way of doing things that'd have been Firaxis' easiest and most boring route to satisfying players who haven't vibed with Civ 7 since release. Also arriving with Test of Time are the likes of a Fractal Continent map, a mechanic dubbed the "Advisor Council", and a new leader who'll be free to anyone that owns the base game.

Firaxis very much look to be positioning this update as a chance for Civ 7 to get a proper second wind, with these options catering to Age system dislikers and a host of updates over the past year and a bit having gotten rid of other aspects vocally criticised on release - for example, working to declunkify the interface. While May's proving to be a deluge of new games and big updates, I can certainly see myself picking up Civ 7 again once the dust settles, having moved on from it fairly quickly the first time around.