2K Games have announced that the Civilization series has now crossed 35 million units in shipments globally. The series, which is now 25 years old, has seen a gradual rise in mainstream recognition and prominence starting Civilization 4, which sold 4 million copies, and 2010’s Civilization 5 finally broke it into the mainstream, with the game having sold almost 10 million copies till date.
It makes sense, too- Civilization 5 was an incredible game, balancing an incredible amount of nuance, depth, and complexity with a lot of accessibility, hooking in millions of new players worldwide. Its expansions upped the ante on it even more, with Civilization 5: Brave New World in particular being one of the best strategy games ever made.
With Civilization: Beyond Earth having done reasonably well as well (it is sitting at over a million copies sold on Steam right now), and the upcoming Civilization 6 this October, the franchise seems primed to continue its commercial success- especially with Civilization 6 looking as great as it does. Civilization 6 is going to launch on PC on October 23.