Civilization VI Adds Battle Royale Mode

Battle Royale is taking over the gaming world. What started as an office joke has become the official mode for Sid Meier's Civilization VI.

Civilization VI Adds Battle Royale Mode

BEWARE THE RED DEATH

Civilization VI has just released a new patch with plenty of updates and bug fixes. That’s all great, but what we care about most today is the new scenario. It’s called Red Death and it’s very much a 4X interpretation of a Battle Royale mode. It started off as a joke from one of the lead game engineers but ended up being so much fun Firaxis told him to turn it into a proper game mode. And now the rest of us can enjoy it as well.

In this scenario, you and several opponents drop in at random locations on a map and need to scavenge for “gear” by searching through abandoned cities. Instead of the traditional gear you’d expect from other Battle Royale games, here you get additional units to join your team. As per usual, a deadly border in the form of radiation shrinks every few turns, forcing all players to a central point on the map where you use the units collected to battle it out until only one is left standing. 

Civilization VI is available in our online store, check out the fantastic trailer for the Red Death scenario below.

WHAT DOES CIVILIZATION’S BATTLE ROYALE ENTAIL?

While Firaxis are no strangers to releasing new scenarios with their expansions and updates, they broke some new ground with Red Death. Typically scenarios use the same game mechanics you’d find in a traditional game of Civilization but not here. First, they removed city management entirely, a scary thought since this is what Civilization is built on. Instead, as mentioned above, you need to search through abandoned cities for units to join your cause. They also replaced settlers with civilians which serve as your lifeline. If your last civilian is captured, you’re out of the game even if you still have military units left. You can capture other civilians though which give you extra lives.

Furthermore, they removed air or naval units, leaving only land-based units. Each unit available has received a new promotion tree specifically designed for this game mode. Your units also level up and heal much quicker than in the base game to accommodate the quicker play style. They’ve stated that a typical Red Death game lasts no more than about an hour, another strange concept for Civilization. Red Death may not be exactly like a traditional Battle Royale but it shares enough elements to make it clear how the connection was made.

A list of the newly designed factions for Civilization VI Red Death

A list of the newly designed factions for Civilization VI Red Death

Firaxis designed 8 new factions specifically for Red Death, which replaces the traditional leader roster. Each faction stands out with a unique trait that makes them stand out although the differences aren’t as extreme as the ones found in the base game’s civilizations. Among these factions are Cultists who receive +3 sight to all units, Doomsday Preppers who receive 100% additional experience points, and Borderlords who receive +3 combat strength when fighting within 3 hexes of the safe border. Other factions include Jocks, Mad Scientists, Mutants, Pirates, and Wanderers, all of whom look fantastic.

SINGLE PLAYER?

The developers stated that while single-player games are possible Red Death is best played in multiplayer. The reason is that the AI added for this mode is just enough to take over, should a player disconnect or leave the game, but won’t present a real challenge. They also said that they’ll look to expand in this regard if there’s such a demand. A final note, unfortunately, Red Death is not Free-2-Play like most Battle Royale games. You don’t need the Gathering Storm expansion but you will need at least the base Civilization VI to be able to play it.

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