Civilization Revolution 2 hits iOS on July 2 — it's no longer a console series

You can soon use your fingers to touch and swipe Winston Churchill to global domination.

Publisher 2K Games intends to release the sequel to Civilization Revolution, and the offshoot series is abandoning the consoles that the original CivRev debuted on, for iOS on July 2. It will hit Android soon after that. Firaxis built the game specifically for touchscreen devices, which is a first for the Civilization series since the original was built with controllers in mind. CivRev 2 enables players to control one of 16 famous leaders as they guide their people from the start of history through classical periods up through the modern era. This will require players to strategically use combat, diplomacy, and more to survive and eventually control more than anyone else.

The Revolution fork of the Civ series is a slightly more casual and streamlined take. Players can finish a Civ Rev game in a fraction of the time a Civ V game takes.

Above: CivRev 2 in action for iOS.

Image Credit: 2K Games

Civilization Revolution debuted in 2008 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS. Firaxis built it specifically to reach the audience of gamers who typically wouldn’t play strategy games because they like using a controller and a television — and not a PC. The Civilization series is massively popular on PCs. In 2009, Firaxis ported CivRev to iOS.

Now, CivRev2 is skipping consoles and dedicated handhelds. That may reveal that most of the audience Firaxis wants to capture has probably moved on to gaming on smart devices. 2K and Firaxis have also recently ported the developer’s beloved 2012 tactical-strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown to both iOS and Android. With both XCOM and Civ finding homes on mobile, it’s clear that tablets and smartphones are now the second home for Firaxis strategy games.

2K didn’t reveal a price for CivRev 2. The original CivRev is $3 on iOS.