Civilization: Beyond Earth Gets Dated

Firaxis Games and 2K Games announced on Thursday that Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth for Windows PC is launching on October 24, 2014. Customers who pre-purchase the game will receive an "Exoplanets" map pack when the game lands on retail shelves. This special pack includes six custom maps inspired by real exoplanets.

Beyond Earth was first announced back in April, which breaks away from the traditional historical themes and pulls gamers into outer space. The game is a spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and inspired by awesome sci-fi authors including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein and more.

"Humanity has made great strides towards progress, but at the cost of using up our planet's vital resources," reads a 2K Games blog. "While some societies on Earth have greatly prospered technologically and culturally, it's clear our time on Earth is coming to an end. The re-developed nations of the world decide to focus their resources on deep space travel to start a new chapter for mankind."

Some of the key features offered in Beyond Earth include a new orbital layer, as players will build and deploy advanced military, economic and scientific satellites. There will be a new quest system, a new technology web, alien worlds and hostile lifeforms. Players will "establish a cultural identity, select a leader and sponsor an expedition by assembling the spacecraft, cargo and colonists through a series of choices."

Beyond Earth will use DirectX, but 2K Games also reports that the game will take advantage of AMD's Mantle API for "enhanced graphics performance." The game will also support AMD CrossFire for UltraHD resolutions, and support AMD Eyefinity for a panoramic gameplay experience.

For those who plan on pre-purchasing the game ($49.99), here is a bit more detail on what the map pack provides. The E3 2014 gameplay walkthrough is also provided below:

Kepler 186f
- This lush forest planet is one of the oldest known Earth-like planets;

Rigil Khantoris Bb
- Orbiting the closest star to our solar system, the historical records of this arid continental planet's settlement are well-preserved;

Tau Ceti d
- This planet of seas and archipelagos features a booming biodiversity and a wealth of resources;

Mu Arae f
- Tidally locked in orbit around a weak star, the southern hemisphere of this planet is a blistering desert where the sun never sets, while the northern hemisphere is perpetually in frozen darkness;

82 Eridani e
- An alien world of scarce water and wracked by tectonic forces;

Eta Vulpeculae b
- A mysterious new discovery with unknown terrain.

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