New Sid Meier’s Civilization game announced

Firaxis has announced a new addition to the Sid Meier’s Civilization series – Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth.

The game, which will be set in the future and science-fiction-themed, sees players become part of an expedition to find a new home beyond our planet, exploring and colonising alien lands. No release date had been announced at the time of publication, but the developers are promising Beyond Earth will land before the end of 2014.

Why do you need to leave Earth to find a new home you ask?

“Global events have destabilised the world, leading to a collapse of modern society, a new world order, and an uncertain future for humanity. As the human race struggles to recover, the re-developed nations focus their resources on deep space travel to chart a new beginning for mankind,” 2K posted about the game on its site.

Features of the game will include a quest system, where completing side-missions will give you access to unit upgrades and additional resources; Orbital Layer – military, scientific, and economic units which provide support from orbit; and mod support, which will allow “robust” customisation of the game.