Take-Two Interactive Software reported today a net revenue growth of more than 50 percent to $571.6 million in the fiscal year 2017, in large part due to the success of the strategy game Civilization VI.
Civ VI made history as the fastest-selling release in the franchise, which launched in 1991 with Sid Meier’s Civilization. Since Civ V’s launch in October 2016, it’s sold nearly 2 million copies. Take-Two puts it on pace to surpass the sales of the previous installment, Civ V, which was released on September 2010 and has sold over 8 million copies as of late last year.
This is only the latest installment in a franchise that is still going strong after more than 25 years, with a lifetime sales of 40 million copies worldwide. Every Civ has a 90 percent or above ranking on Metacritic, with the exception of Civ VI, which hovers at a respectable 88 percent. Even so, Civ VI took home the Game Award for Best Strategy Game in 2016, following in the footsteps of Civ V, which won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Award for Strategy in 2011, and Civ IV which was chosen as the PC Game of the Year by IGN in 2005.
While maintaining its core mechanics, the series continues to reinvent itself, frequently releasing expansion packs. Though Civ V’s Brave New World expansion had its pros and cons, it was also notable for a classroom mod that enabled it to be incorporated into school curriculums.