History of Civilization, the Game Franchise

By

Matt Patches

&

Josh Broadwell

Published Oct 22, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

Sid Meier's name hangs over the franchise, but crafting the ultimate turn-based strategy franchise took a village

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Forty-four years ago, Sid Meier, a computer programmer, and Bruce Shelley, a military pilot, met in Las Vegas to discuss a potential partnership in the video-game business. They tested their wits in a game of Atari’s flight simulator, Red Baron, and when Meier's video game knowledge bested Stealey's real-world flight experience, the two knew exactly what kind of game their nascent studio would specialize in.

Several years and military simulator games later, however, Meier itched to do something new. He'd seen how players found joy in watching their decisions shape a simulation and, following the positive reception to Railroad Tycoon, had an instinct that history could capture people's imaginations.

Thus was born Civilization and, equally important, the creative pattern that shaped the genre-defining series over the next 35 years. Even as the series changed hands over the years, each successive game came into existence facing the same challenges: tumultuous changes in leadership and vision, tension between tradition and innovation, and no shortage of doubt from backers and consumers. And yet Civilization has endured, shaped as much by the people who play it as the ones who create it and etched into the video game landscape as one of the greats.

To mark the 35th anniversary of Civilization, Polygon spoke with some of the people who created and stewarded the series over the decades. Below, they tell the story of how Civilization became the franchise we know today. Rome, it seems, was not built in a day.

Sid Meier (Creator of Civilization, co-founder of MicroProse and Firaxis): I was always playing with toys as a child. I remember spreading my blocks and soldiers and ships over the living room floor until my mom said, “Somebody’s coming over — you gotta clean up!” And I had an interest in history; I read about airplanes and ships, pirates, for example. As I got a little older, I got into board games and strategy games. This was all before computers appeared. When computers appeared, my first computer was the Atari 800. Whoa, I can make my own games. That was super cool.

And, you know, the rest is history. Literally.

Meier: The backstory of Civilization is kind of interesting. We had actually done a game previous to that called Railroad Tycoon, which was our first “God game,” a game where you start with a little tiny nugget and you gradually build it into something more and more interesting. In this case it was a railroad empire. I was talking to my collaboratorBruce ShelleyBruce Shelley began his game design career in tabletop gaming, working on Tolkien-inspired RPGs at Iron Crown Enterprises and classic strategy games at Avalon Hill, before his five years at MicroProse with Sid Meier and his eventual role as a founding member of Ensemble Studios, where he helped create Age of Empires and shape one of gaming’s defining strategy franchises. , I think we were on a train to New York or something, and I asked, “What should we do next?” That idea of building something as opposed to blowing everything up is kind of cool. What’s a topic we could tackle? And we looked at each other and said, “How about the entire history of civilization?” It has that quality of starting small and growing, and having all these different aspects: economics, military, diplomacy. Could we do it? Probably not.

Photo: GDC

Ed Beach (Creative director for Civilization at Firaxis): That’s why the computer game was so mind-blowing. Sid’s original premise was: Let’s put all of human history in a box and make it fun. They achieved that.

Meier: The aspect of creativity in making a game is exciting. It’s empowering. It’s a wow thing. In the same way that an artist starts with a blank canvas, a writer starts with a blank piece of paper, a game designer starts with a blank