During antiquity era, independent factions—deliberately labeled to prevent perceived negative connotations of the term "barbarian" used in previous games in the series—will emerge.

[7] Civilization VII's opening cinematic "Rediscover Hope" and theme song "Live Gloriously" were revealed at the 2024 Game Awards.

"Live Gloriously" is written by American composer Christopher Tin, who also composed the Grammy Award-winning song "Baba Yetu", the main theme of Civilization IV, as well as Civilization VI's main theme "Sogno di Volare".

The song's lyrics are derived from four ancient poems—the Iliad, Beowulf, Popol Vuh, and Ramayana—which are sung in their languages as originally written.

[15] Due to feedback during the early access stage, on February 10th, 2025, Firaxis Games released Patch 1.0.1 for Civilization VII, which included improvements to the user interface and tooltips.

[18] The game's visuals and sounds, diplomacy system overhaul, and choice to untether leaders from civilizations were mostly praised.