Gamers have widely criticized the new live-action trailer for Civilization VII. Players expressed strong disapproval regarding the depiction of a black woman commanding a Mongol army in the promotional video. The reaction on YouTube highlights this sentiment, showing significantly more dislikes than likes (102 likes against over 3,000 dislikes).
Numerous commenters, with many individual remarks garnering more likes than the trailer itself, questioned developer Firaxis Games` decision to spend resources on such a video “instead of working on improving the game.” Some players even stated they would not purchase or play Civilization VII due to their perception of the developers` attitude towards the community.
Examples of comments left on the video include:
“A Black woman leading the Mongol army is top-tier comedy.”
“Why wasn`t the time/money spent on this directed at improving the game?”
“The creator of this video definitely has malicious intentions towards the average gamer, and this video should be treated accordingly.”
“She is a strong and independent Black woman who doesn`t need any players.”
“Netflixification of 7D.”
From a gameplay perspective, however, a black leader *could* realistically take command of a Mongol army within Civilization VII. This is because the game is reportedly moving away from strictly tying specific leaders to specific nations. As players advance through different historical eras, they will be required to change the civilizations they lead, potentially resulting in diverse leader-civilization pairings.