As if we needed any more proof that mobile gaming is a serious force in the gaming business, 2K Games and Firaxis today announced that the long-awaited sequel to Revolution of civilization coming to iOS devices next Wednesday, July 2.
There aren’t many details on the sequel just yet, but promo photos of 2K show leaders like Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln stare up from your iOS device. The publisher says the new game will “stay true to the series” by allowing players to “wage war, conduct diplomacy, discover new technologies and build the most powerful empire the world has ever known in a race to the ultimate supremacy”, so don’t expect any major deviations from the shape. No price has been announced, but 2K noted that the game is “launching as a premium title”, so it looks like there’s no free-to-play monetization shenanigans to worry about here.
The original Revolution of civilization was purpose-built as a console-friendly version of the popular PC simulation series, pitched first as an “accessible, visually immersive, and action-packed world designed specifically for the console and handheld gamer.” Some have derided the game for numbing its core complexity Civilization experience, but the spinoff has gained a following that appreciates its more streamlined approach to civilization management.
Revolution of civilization first launched on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo DS in 2008 before coming to iOS over a year later in a visually scaled-down edition (and an iPad-tuned “HD” version came in 2010). In the six years that have passed since then, the gaming world has apparently changed so much that 2K doesn’t feel the need to even mention consoles in today’s announcement of the sequel (although an Android version is “coming soon”).
The switch to a mobile focus for the sequel is not entirely unexpected. Last year, Firaxis producer Dennis Shirk said in an interview with Gamerzines that the touch-based interface of mobile devices “makes more sense to us” than console controls, even with the PS4 with camera and touchpad. “XCOM was announced for the iPad and things like that are perfect, even Civil v has that unique point-and-click face [interface]he said. “When we converted that to Windows 8 touch, it was perfect and fit more naturally [compared to consoles].”
Regardless of control issues, though, 2K just seems to be going where the market is for the sequel. The console version of the first Revolution of civilization game barely made the NPD’s US top 10, selling 150,000 in its first month on the Xbox 360 before falling off the sales chart entirely. Meanwhile, the iOS version was the iPhone’s ninth best-selling game for all of 2009, just behind million sellers like Flight control. The iPad version has often reappeared on iTunes’ top-paid apps list even years after its release, usually during 2K’s periodic app sales.