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We look at a snapshot of players just prior to the launch of Civilization World to see what they are enjoying about the game series.
The original Civilization game by Microprose celebrated its 20th birthday this year.Currently owned by Take-Two (published under the Firaxis and 2K labels), its latest offering is the open beta of Civilization World on Facebook.
This analysis is based upon a sample of 282 gamers who have played a Civilization title in the past six months. This sort of game has immense replay value; encouraging loyalists to upgrade to the latest version must be a particular challenge for the publishers. In fact, one third of current players are still working on version IV released back in 2005.
A further 23 per cent claim to be playing the 1996 release Civilization II.
Most gamers play Civilization for ‘the mental challenge’ (42 per cent of gamers), with ‘the opportunity to develop life/build something’ (41 per cent) also a top motivation.
The big question is how well the Civilization concept and gameplay will convert into a social network game?
It’s a slow game that requires thought. So long as Civilization World places no particular time pressure on players, there’s no reason why this characteristic can’t be maintained.
World has the potential to be supremely successful. As you can see from the graph, Civilization combines complex mental challenge with the opportunity to build and develop life – both features seen on many existing social network games.
Though it is recognised that Civilization requires a long time to play each game, the turn-based structure is perfectly suited for the short, occasional ‘dabbling’ that so characterises Facebook gaming.
You can find this and other Brand Maps atwww.mcvuk.com/reports.
