Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games, released in October 2005. Players guide a civilisation from 4000 BCE to the modern era across a procedurally generated world, researching technologies, building cities, managing diplomacy, and waging war in pursuit of one of six victory conditions. Widely regarded as the finest entry in the series, it introduced religion, civic policies, and a fully three-dimensional engine, and remains a benchmark for deep, replayable strategy design.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV was directed by Soren Johnson and released on 25 October 2005. Building on the series established by Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds, it retained the core loop of the franchise — explore, expand, exploit, exterminate — while overhauling almost every system. The three-dimensional engine replaced the series’ long-running isometric view; a fully orchestrated soundtrack, including the Grammy-nominated choral opening “Baba Yetu,” elevated the production values beyond anything previously seen in a strategy game.
Civilization IV offered six paths to victory: Domination, Space Race, Cultural, Diplomatic, Religious, and Time. Religion was a new system entirely — great prophets could found one of seven world religions, which spread between cities and generated cultural influence and political power. Civic policies replaced the fixed government types of earlier entries with a modular system: players chose from categories of labour, legal, economic, religious, and military civics, creating combinations that rewarded different playstyles. Great People — generated by specialist slots in cities — could trigger golden ages, found religions, or permanently boost key tiles. The AI, overhauled with distinct leader personalities and agendas, remained competitive enough to punish inattentive players across the higher difficulty settings.
Two major expansions followed: Warlords (2006), adding scenarios and new leaders, and Beyond the Sword (2007), widely considered one of the strongest expansions in the genre — adding espionage, late-game scenarios, and significant AI improvements. Civilization IV received a Metacritic score of 94, one of the highest ever for a strategy game. IGN ranked it #35 on their 2021 top 100; Time placed it at #11 on their 2016 list of the 50 best video games. Its modding community was vast and sustained; the total conversion mod Fall from Heaven II remains a benchmark for fan-made strategy design. “Baba Yetu,” composed by Christopher Tin, became the first piece of music written for a video game to win a Grammy Award.