The Game Census
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword cover art

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword

Firaxis Games · 2K · 2007-07-24

Steam

Strategy

Franchise: Sid Meier · Modes: Single player, Multiplayer · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Jul 27, 2009 (Mac), Jul 18, 2007 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Sid Meier's Civilization IV®: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for Civilization IV - the 2005 PC Game of the Year that has become a worldwide hit.

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is a Strategy game released in 2007, priced at $9.99, with an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 5087 reviews).

1,230
playing now
96%
positive of 5.1k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
83/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
85/100
IGDB user rating (49 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$9.99
steam price (US)

1,230 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 12:00 UTC (census sample)

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack of the turn-based strategy video game Civilization IV. The expansion focuses on adding content to the in-game time periods following the invention of gunpowder, and includes more general content such as 11 new scenarios, 10 new civilizations, and 16 new leaders.

Trailer

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword trailer thumbnail

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword

≈163,207 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 1,230 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 227 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~28/week).
  • · Review velocity up 8% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 5% of 14,091 Strategy games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 205k–409k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 5,113 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$5.99-80%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.19 at MacGameStore (2024-11-24)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $9.99 · on sale 24 of 34 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
10010020182026Week of 2018-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 100 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 83 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

2.2k9662026-09-15 13:00 — 1,274 players2026-09-16 21:00 — 1,601 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 1,016 players2026-09-19 12:00 — 1,679 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 2,226 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 1,124 players2026-09-23 11:00 — 1,183 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 1,711 players2026-09-26 02:00 — 1,413 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 1,500 players2026-09-28 17:00 — 1,707 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 1,365 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 1,017 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 1,627 players2026-10-03 23:00 — 1,714 players2026-10-05 07:00 — 975 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 1,431 players2026-10-07 22:00 — 1,489 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 1,015 players2026-10-10 13:00 — 1,756 players2026-10-11 21:00 — 2,038 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 1,086 players2026-10-14 12:00 — 1,230 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1.7k350Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 472 · peak 833Dec 2012 — avg 458 · peak 925May 2013 — avg 397 · peak 695Oct 2013 — avg 362 · peak 655Mar 2014 — avg 549 · peak 996Aug 2014 — avg 522 · peak 900Jan 2015 — avg 599 · peak 1,027Jun 2015 — avg 569 · peak 1,022Nov 2015 — avg 671 · peak 1,148Apr 2016 — avg 795 · peak 1,385Sep 2016 — avg 845 · peak 1,434Feb 2017 — avg 873 · peak 1,583Jul 2017 — avg 891 · peak 1,518Dec 2017 — avg 1,043 · peak 1,653May 2018 — avg 988 · peak 1,620Oct 2018 — avg 988 · peak 1,673Mar 2019 — avg 1,122 · peak 1,911Aug 2019 — avg 1,089 · peak 1,714Jan 2020 — avg 1,180 · peak 1,936Jun 2020 — avg 1,286 · peak 1,963Nov 2020 — avg 1,314 · peak 2,039Apr 2021 — avg 1,283 · peak 1,965Sep 2021 — avg 1,199 · peak 1,817Feb 2022 — avg 1,366 · peak 2,181Jul 2022 — avg 1,337 · peak 1,979Dec 2022 — avg 1,402 · peak 2,077May 2023 — avg 1,329 · peak 2,003Oct 2023 — avg 1,390 · peak 2,208Mar 2024 — avg 1,459 · peak 2,300Aug 2024 — avg 1,488 · peak 2,337Jan 2025 — avg 1,600 · peak 2,507Jun 2025 — avg 1,438 · peak 2,191Nov 2025 — avg 1,511 · peak 2,304Apr 2026 — avg 1,497 · peak 2,436Aug 2026 — avg 1,473 · peak 2,310
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
882026-09-212026-10-142026-09-21: 8 new positive2026-09-22: 1 new positive2026-09-23: 1 new positive2026-09-24: 1 new positive2026-09-25: 1 new positive2026-09-27: 2 new positive2026-10-01: 1 new negative2026-10-03: 2 new positive2026-10-07: 2 new positive2026-10-08: 1 new positive2026-10-09: 1 new positive2026-10-11: 1 new positive2026-10-12: 1 new positive2026-10-13: 1 new positive2026-10-14: 2 new positive
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$29.99$1.192015-01-012026-10-082015-01-01 — best price $2.492015-03-05 — best price $5.702015-04-23 — best price $9.002015-06-17 — best price $6.622015-07-21 — best price $2.492015-08-31 — best price $9.992015-11-25 — best price $2.492016-01-19 — best price $9.492016-02-04 — best price $9.492016-03-03 — best price $2.502016-05-17 — best price $9.992016-08-22 — best price $7.852016-11-21 — best price $2.492017-03-16 — best price $2.492017-07-17 — best price $9.992017-10-17 — best price $2.492018-01-22 — best price $9.992018-05-06 — best price $9.992018-08-06 — best price $1.562018-12-03 — best price $2.502019-04-18 — best price $2.502019-07-08 — best price $2.492019-11-01 — best price $9.992020-01-24 — best price $2.492020-04-03 — best price $2.492021-03-18 — best price $2.492021-09-10 — best price $1.992022-03-02 — best price $9.792023-01-13 — best price $9.042024-04-08 — best price $9.632024-11-22 — best price $2.492025-05-12 — best price $6.992026-01-06 — best price $9.992026-09-11 — best price $5.992026-10-08 — best price $5.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

41142026-06-01 — 20 pageviews2026-06-05 — 22 pageviews2026-06-09 — 21 pageviews2026-06-13 — 18 pageviews2026-06-17 — 14 pageviews2026-06-21 — 38 pageviews2026-06-25 — 28 pageviews2026-06-29 — 18 pageviews2026-07-03 — 30 pageviews2026-07-07 — 20 pageviews2026-07-11 — 17 pageviews2026-07-15 — 17 pageviews2026-07-19 — 26 pageviews2026-07-23 — 22 pageviews2026-07-27 — 22 pageviews2026-07-31 — 25 pageviews2026-08-04 — 21 pageviews2026-08-08 — 20 pageviews2026-08-12 — 20 pageviews2026-08-16 — 31 pageviews2026-08-20 — 24 pageviews2026-08-24 — 27 pageviews2026-08-28 — 22 pageviews2026-09-01 — 34 pageviews2026-09-05 — 36 pageviews2026-09-09 — 31 pageviews2026-09-13 — 33 pageviews2026-09-17 — 28 pageviews2026-09-21 — 21 pageviews2026-09-25 — 14 pageviews2026-09-29 — 19 pageviews2026-10-03 — 23 pageviews2026-10-07 — 21 pageviews2026-10-10 — 20 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsmacOSSingle-playerFamily Sharing

5 supported languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - Spain

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

4XClassicModdableStrategyEducationHistoricalManagementSimulationTurn-BasedMultiplayer

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Sid Meier's Civilization® IVKnights of HonorStronghold 2: Steam EditionCrusader Kings IIEuropa Universalis IVENDLESS Legend™HearthlandsAnno 1800

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗