Civilization VI Dev Explains Why Online Multiplayer Wasn't Included In The Switch Version

I love the Civ games and look forward to dropping yet another hundred hours into this game when the expansion comes out.

But you can keep online mode for this game. I can't get people to play Monopoly with me for 2 hours. Civ games on the highest speed are rarely less than 6-8 hours each. I've had games on big maps last 20+

It would have been great with larger font size in the integrated Civilopedia to make it more playable in portable mode.

@tovare Larger font is a good idea, but I've put like 45 hours into this game portable. Totally playable.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah, it´s a good game. I´ve never won though, I can´t stop those religious nuts (need readable docs to make a better and more aggressive strat).

@tovare What difficulty are you playing on? There are a bunch of difficulty levels for a reason and no shame in picking a lower one.

hehe, I´ve picked a couple of levels (the scale is not intuitive), one of them got me wiped out pretty quickly. Now, I think I can turn off religion but I´d like to figure out the game eventually with everything like it should be. (I think it was Deity-level, that word wasn´t in my vocabulary ... it sounded like a pushover taunt.) I know now settler is the right level.

Only thing I care about here is Rise and Fall confirmed inbound. Civ VI is already one of my top games on Switch - Rise and Fall should easily make it my #1 of all time.

Worked great on Switch on the GO.

I use Cross Save with my PC and played there when I was at home. So could always use online there. More Switch games should have cross save.

Honestly, don't care.
But I love that the dlc is coming to switch! I'll buy that day one!

The DLC isn’t on Switch? Man, it’s borderline unplayable once you’ve played with both R&F and GS. They add a massive amount. It’s just a shame that mods will never be on Switch, they’re what make these sorts of games. I have about 30 GB of mods for Civ V ranging from Henry Morgan and the Buccaneers to Hitler.

@tovare @Heavyarms55 Yeah, I've been playing Civ since Civ 3 when I was a kid and my dad has been playing since Civ 1 and both of us tend to play on 3 to 5 difficulty even though we know the mechanics well. One of the few problems with the series is that rather than make the AI significantly better at difficulties above 5, they usually make the AI have advantages you don't, like building things faster. That isn't fun difficulty in my opinion when Genghis Kahn can just build more units than you and curb stomp you in the classical era every time, so I usually just pick an AI level where they aren't handicapped but aren't getting super good advantages either when I'm playing for fun.

I've been playing on my laptop rather than on the Switch, so I didn't know that the Switch didn't have hotseat. Honestly, I thought before they ever announced Civ for Switch that Switch would be great for hotseat since you can pass it around. To be honest, I'm glad I haven't gotten the Switch version because I would have been disappointed that it doesn't have hotseat. Although to be honest I didn't get it on Switch because I don't want to go back to vanilla Civ VI when PC has expansion packs...

Cannot wait for the R&F DLC, day one purchase for me.

I have loved CIV VI and although I play other games in between, I always return to it and put another 30 odd hours in here and there.

Just need a decent C&C game next.

@Dodger Well the Switch version is getting the hotseat and expansion packs, so there is that. I have it on PC too and while I like that I have both the expansions and the ability to run mods on PC, I love playing this game on a portable system! I played Civ 3 a lot back when I was in school, and play 5 in college, all on PC of course. Kudos to your dad for playing since Civ 1! That's a long time to stay with a series!

Ah excellent, so is this confirmation the expansions are coming? Can’t find any official quote online that they are

Can’t wait for the expansions, ready to dive another 100+ hours into the game!

And hotseat mode? Might be a perfect game for the Household when we have a weekend off!

@Heavyarms55 Yeah, I might get it when hotseat and expansions come out. It has crossed my mind that it would be cool to have it on a portable console.

@Dodger I'm sure you could pick up a used copy somewhere cheaper and save a few bucks. I've seen it on sale on the eshop once or twice too.

Sweet. I've already put 900 hours into this game. Looks like this will make it my first 1000 houSwitch game, if Mario Maker doesn't beat it before the expansions are released, gotta get 10000 clears.

Will buy once hotseat is added. Can't believe it has taken them this long!

Got this on a deal at argos but I've been waiting on the dlc before I start. I don't know whether I'm excited or scared that dlc is coming this year, I'm worried this will actually take over my life!!!

Great. Now that I bought a second copy of the game for local WiFi multiplayer they finally come up with a hotseat mode.

@tovare I didn't win a single game just like you, even on the lowest difficulty setting. There's so much going on and the AI seems to be able to do twice as much as you do in one round. I can't progress on all levels, I need to focus on a few things. And then the AI beats me in the late game. So frustrating. At the lowest difficulty setting players should easily be able to dominate the map.

So happy to get the expansion packs so I can't wait!

@tovare Press the Home Button twice and you can read any letters you find small.

Great game! A leaderboard to record high scores would be great though.

I’m happy we’ll get the expansions. I’m not interested in online anyway. My only problem with the game is that they include bigger maps, but they are unplayable because the slowdown gets so bad. I can only ever play Tiny, even Small and Standard get too bad halfway through a game.

I wonder if they're going to do physical rerelease to add the expansions to the base game, or if the expansions will be digital-only.

I have this but failed to get in to it so far. Need to go back and have another crack at it.

@Heavyarms55 People not wanting to play Monopoly may be an issue with you wanting to play Monopoly of all things.
But yeah, Civ in multi isn't so hot. Once someone starts getting ahead everyone else starts calling it quits. It's va difficult game to catch up in.

Love this game. Think I've put 190 hours into my Switch copy. My only issue is Prince is far too easy. King is quite the jump and you're playing from behind for a good portion of the game.

Still love it, though. Couldn't care less about it not having online play.

"Nintendo players can still look forward to the Rise & Fall and Gathering Storm expansions coming to this version of the game later this year."

How was this not the title of the article? Way more relevant to me than multiplayer. It's a Civ game, multiplayer has always been an afterthought.

@SmaggTheSmug Hey, I like Monopoly! It's my favorite board game!

@Dodger They've been selling switch version for 30 bucks at gamestop that's where i ended up picking mine up with some trade in credit.

I have devoted thousands and thousands of hours to this franchise since Civ 2 in the 90's. Exactly zero of them were spent playing online.

Even if you're an online play enthusiast, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to play an entire Civ run while enduring literal hours of downtime while someone else takes their turns in a remote location.

@ricklongo I'm in a similar position myself, so I agree, but modern Civ games online have rulesets designed to speed things up (turns at same time, short games, etc.). I've played some online with a friend, not with randoms.

@tisteg80 There really is a lot going on in Civ VI - they added a metric ton of little mechanics since Civ V. In addition, there's fewer civs with passive buffs that are easy to use for beginners, they often have more complicated special powers than Civ V. It's hard to pay attention to all of the mechanics at once and to know what mechanics you don't have to pay attention to. My suggestion if you're starting the series with Civ VI is to play on 1-3 difficulty while you get used to how the game works. There's no shame in playing a game or two on settler as a tutorial when there are so many decisions to make.

I have always found online to be difficult to do for Civilization since the games take so long. But I was utterly baffled that there was no hotseat, that's something I can be excited for!

Translation: We're too lazy and/or cheap to treat each version of the game equally.

Wow, what a lousy excuse! I've just lost quite a bit of respect for them.

what is it with EVERY GAME DEV using tiny text, as though there's not enough room, with huge borders that would even keep Mexico at bay (no offense intended.)

I love turn-based strategy, but without at least hot seat at launch, this was a hard pass for me. At a lower price and with hot seat, maybe in the future.

@tovare
Double tap the home button and use the zoom function

The issue here isn't the lack of online multiplayer in Civ. The issue is that Nintendo online is still lacking a ton of features that players and developers need if the Switch is going to get serious about online gaming.

@Heavyarms55 I guess some people have to. I am just used to people defaulting to Monopoly if they don't actually know other non-abstract, non-two player board games exist. And most are way better than Monopoly.

@SmaggTheSmug Everyone knows how to play Monopoly. There are tons of cool board games around but generally you have to spend an hour explaining them first. Hard enough to get people to play a game they know.

Course that's just my life story, I don't focus on single player games entirely by choice. Mostly, but not entirely.

@Heavyarms55 Funnily enough most people play Monopoly incorrectly, since no one bothers to read the rulebook. And a lot of games are actually simpler, not requiring a banker for one thing.
Settlers of Catan or Barenpark require 10-15 minutes of explanation. And the experience will be much more rewarding.
It's worth mentioning that Monopoly's original version was designed to be deliberately miserable. "The Landlord's Game" was supposed to teach people why capitalism is evil.

@SmaggTheSmug Well capitalism is evil. But that's a different topic. But I like the game and yeah there are some popular unofficial rules, but the thing is, everyone I know, knows them. So if I can find 2 or 3 other people to sit down with and play all we have to do is grab the game and some beers and have fun.

When is the hotseat update coming?

The game has been out for ages and we're in October now!

@Heavyarms55 That's why it should be Asynchronouse. Back in Civ 5 on PC. I used to play epic length games for months with a full game on the largest map, "playing by email" but through an online client. SO I do my turn, it gets sent to the next person who gets a notification that it's his turn, and after a few days its my turn again, and I take it. Like Words with friends. That's how how they should treat Civ.

@__Aldonn Replying to a comment I left almost a full year ago, I had to go back and read my own comment to figure out what you were talking about. lol

That kind of asynchronous gameplay would certainly be interesting. But I have no idea if the Switch could support it on the technical side of things. My guess is probably but I don't know.

I still love this game but it just doesn't run well in the late game on Switch ever since the DLC. Each turn drags on and the game starts crashing every few turns. At least on big maps the way I like to play.