Civilization VII comes to mobile: 4X joins the Apple Arcade in February!

Prepare your empires and sharpen your strategic mind! Sid Meier's Civilization VII is coming to iOS via the Apple Arcade subscription. Called Sid Meier's Civilization VII Arcade Edition, this version arrives in February 2026, one year after the game's release on PC and consoles. What does this Arcade Edition of Civ7 have in store for you? That's what we're going to find out.

What does Civilization VII Arcade Edition have in store for you?

It's impossible to have missed out on the Sid Meier licence. But if you have, here's a quick recap: the Civilization series is one of the most famous 4X franchises, developed by Firaxis Games, its historic studio. In fact, Firaxis Games was at the helm of this mobile port, in collaboration with Behaviour Interactive (Fallout Shelter, Dead by Daylight Mobile...).

Sid Meier's Civilization VII Arcade Edition

App Store

The promise of this forthcoming Apple Arcade release? The real Civilization experience on the touch screen. Of course, we'll be back to the gameplay you're no doubt familiar with:

• Play as a historical ruler to develop your civilisation,
• Build cities and wonders to establish your authority and improve your research,
• Manage diplomatic relations with your neighbours.

Civ7 also allows you to choose a brand new civilisation for each new age, to liven up the gameplay (although we now know that this feature was not appreciated by all PC users).

Release date and iOS compatibility

Sid Meier's Civilization VII Arcade Edition, the Apple Arcade version of Civilization VII, arrives on 5 February 2026. As you can imagine, the game is likely to heat up your device and will only be available on iPhones and iPads equipped with iOS version 17.0 and an A17 Pro or M chip (for iPads).

If you don't have a compatible smartphone, don't worry! We've put together a list of the best mobile strategy games to quench your thirst for empire!