@strutheo also, they are already announcing the civs in the official website. Will you wait for the release date? https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/

@strutheo, what will you do if in the release we have Britain rather than England? Or America instead of United States? Does Meiji Japan count towards Japan? Or Ming China counts towards China?

Today's gameplay reveal trailer confirms Rome (led by Augustus), Egypt (probably Hatshepsut?), and the Shawnee (Tecumseh) as a pre-order bonus.

upgraded to basic

bump due to the Manifold Plays Civ fun

/komplexkonjugat/manifoldplaysciv6-which-civilizatio-ff5f918f81ae

Civs that have been included in the base game for every numbered entry:
America, Aztecs*, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Rome, Russia

Civs that appear at least 5 times, incl. expansion packs: Babylon, Mongolia, Persia, Spain, Zulu

...4 times: Arabia, Byzantium, Carthage, Celts, Dutch/Netherlands, Inca, Korea, Maya, Ottoman Turks, Portugal

…2-3 times: Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iroquois, Khmer, Mali, Poland, Sumeria, Sweden, Vikings

…ever: Assyria, Australia, Austria, Canada, Cree, Denmark, Gaul, Georgia, Gran Colombia, Hittites, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Huns, Kongo, Macedon, Maori, Mapuche, Morocco, Native Americans, Norway, Nubia, Phoenicia, Polynesia, Scotland, Scythia, Shoshone, Siam, Sioux, Songhai, Venice, Vietnam

A "Viking"-themed Scandinavian civ has been featured 5 times, but under different names: Vikings (3), Danes (1), and Norway (1). So have the Celtic peoples, as “Celts” (4) and “Gaul” (1).

* Civ’s “default” pre-Columbian rep is clearly the Aztecs; Montezuma is almost as much of a series mascot as Gandhi. They were relegated to Day-1 DLC for Civ 6 but added for free a few months later.

Since Civ II, Firaxis has made a point to include other pre-Columbian peoples in the base game in some way. None are as (in)famous as the Aztecs for their hegemonic empire-building, though, so it’s a very eclectic list. Expansions usually add the Inca and Maya, in that order; the Mapuche appeared in Civ VI for the first time.

There is usually a North American Indigenous civ, but it varies a lot. Civ II had the Sioux, III and V had the Iroquois, and expansions added the Shoshone (for V) and the Cree (for VI). The clumsiest rep was in IV, which had a consolidated (and ahistorical) “Native American” civ led by Sitting Bull. Although well-intentioned, it’s a sobering testament to the Natives’ cultural destruction that neither their “civ name” nor a large fraction of their settlement list are in an Indigenous language.

By comparison with the Aztecs, the Zulu are Firaxis’ default sub-Saharan civ. From IV onward, they’ve been joined by Ethiopia and one of Mali or Songhai; VI added Nubia and Kongo to the list.

There’s also a trend in recent games of including more post-colonial civs like Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Gran Colombia. Who knows, maybe Civ VII will add Mexico.