Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 is finally in the hands of players who paid for early access, and one of the 4X strategy game’s weirder bugs has already been discovered. During Age transitions, players can hear weird noises, some of which sound like coughing, when picking a new civilization to play as.
One of the biggest changes Civilization 7 makes to the series’ core formula is that playthroughs are split into three Ages. Players pick a new civilization to control at the start of each new Age. A piece of music plays in the background as players do this, but fans quickly started hearing weird audio as they did this and discussed their findings on Reddit. There was speculation that some unintentional sounds made their way into the orchestral music track already, but the Civilization 7 support website revealed the actual issue.
“During an Age Transition, players might hear strange noises. This is likely due to the audio from the Main Menu being played over Age Transition screens,” a support page explains. “This means you may hear short voice lines, shuffling around, and general idle noises while on the Age Transition menu.”
Essentially, players hear the Leaders’ idle voice lines and actions that typically play on Civilization VII’s main menu screen while they’re mid-playthrough. Currently, 2K and Firaxis have not outlined any clear way to resolve this issue. They’re aware of the issue and have already committed to thorough post-launch support for Civilization 7, so hopefully, a fix isn’t too far off.
Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 will get a wide release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on February 11. You can play now if you purchase the more expensive Deluxe or Founder’s editions of the game.