Civilization 7 update brings pirates and "powerful" Ocean Tiles, but developer Firaxis won't say much more: "You'll notice smaller, less frequent updates while the team shifts into testing"

While we head deeper into autumn, Civilization 7 is wading into the open sea with its particularly nautical upcoming update 1.3.0.

Developer Firaxis explains in a slightly vague update check-in post – it knows fans have been hoping for more frequent updates, or possibly even a content roadmap, but creative director Ed Beach writes in the post that, "We've held off on providing too much detail until we knew that the significant updates we wanted to make had a clear path forward and were sufficiently fleshed out." In any case, think boats.

Planned to launch the week of November 3, Civilization 7's next update will introduce oceanic luxuries, like a new water-based Warehouse Building called the Harbor, a speedy Privateer Light Naval Unit good for "general maritime mischief," and workable Ocean Tiles for the Modern Age. Plus, "Hawaii can now work Ocean tiles in the Exploration Age," says Firaxis, "making their coastal starts feel powerful even earlier."

"The final piece is a fresh update to naval combat," Firaxis adds. "We've done a significant pass to make naval warfare feel more impactful," like by expanding combat options with Ranged Units and two types of Naval Unit, Light and Heavy.

The saltwater taffy on top is the Tides of Power Content Collection that will arrive alongside update 1.3.0. Tides of Power will bring along with it the Tonga civilization and the Republic of Pirates – the latter of which should arrive shoreside in December, accompanied by "the formidable leader Sayyida al Hurra, along with the Ottomans and Iceland."

Beach disclaims that "as we head into the holidays, you'll notice smaller, less frequent updates while the team shifts into testing and iteration on these larger changes, and preparing for the Workshop," Civilization's new playtesting initiative.

In the meantime, "Ocean-lovers rejoice!" says Firaxis.

Firaxis says Civilization 7 is getting "dramatic changes" as it tests a way to basically bypass its divisive Ages system and let you play as one faction the whole game.