Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Announced

2K Games has announced "Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword," the next expansion in the Civilization IV series by Firaxis.

"Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for Civilization IV - the 2005 PC Game of the Year and a major commercial success, selling over 1.5 million units worldwide since its October 2005 release. The expansion will focus on the late-game time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 challenging and decidedly different scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis Games, as well as members of the Civilization Fan Community. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will also include ten new civilizations, 16 new leaders, five new wonders, and a variety of new units that will offer even more fun and exciting ways for players to expand their civilization's power as they strive for world domination."

"Civilization IV has been an overwhelming critical and commercial success, so it makes sense for Firaxis Games to create the biggest, most ambitious expansion pack for one of the deepest PC games ever created," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword delivers more scenarios, civilizations, units, concepts, leaders and a host of other features."

"Civilization is close to our hearts here at Firaxis and we're excited to up the ante on the series once again with what we consider to be our best expansion pack ever," said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games. "Fan requests and a constant stream of new ideas motivate our team to continue delivering more and better gameplay for our premier series. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is a must-have expansion for every Civ® fan."

The expansion is scheduled to be released this July.