The anticipation for Civilization VII is great, but there is also a small dampener for PC gamers: the title will rely on controversial copy protection.
From February 11, 2025, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is set to cause a sensation and make the hearts of franchise and strategy fans beat faster. However, on the PC you will have to live with the fact that controversial copy protection is used.
It has now been revealed that this version of the game uses the DRM system Denuvo in the fight against software piracy; this is stated on the product page on Steam. The anti-tampering software has a reputation for having a lasting negative impact on PC performance because it runs in the background and naturally uses up performance for itself.
The DRM system has already been used in a number of other PC games and has been criticized time and again. Denuvo is often removed at a later date via a patch and the games then demonstrably run better.
It is questionable whether this is really such a big issue for a turn-based strategy game like Civilization VII. Performance losses are much more annoying in shooters with a competitive aspect; in any case, turn-based strategy games are unlikely to be as demanding in terms of system requirements as shooters, for example.
What’s more annoying is the fact that Denuvo requires a constant internet connection. So even if you just want to play Civilization VII at home, you’ll need to be connected online.
Since Civilization VII is also being released for the Nintendo Switch, a new trailer was shown at today’s Nintendo Partner Showcase.
