Civ 7’s Lafayette Reveal Is Fun, But It Highlights A Growing Leader Problem

As a new entry in the series, Sid Meier's Civilization VII has a wonderful opportunity to introduce new leaders that can serve as ways to educate players about even more historical figures. Civilization games have been incredible tools for people to learn about past civilizations, the history of our world, and the people who changed it. Gameplay blends facts with player decisions and customizations to make learning fun and engaging. Lafayette, the newest leader to be announced for the game, adds a lot of cultural history to the experience for both France and America, but also comes at a cost.

Perhaps because the developer is based in America, Sid Meier's Civilization games do a good job of teaching much of American history and Civ 7 even brings in leaders such as Harriet Tubman to further expand on that learning experience. Of course, with the changes for the upcoming Civ 7, players can use any leader to be in charge of any country, which certainly messes up some of the historical accuracy even more than usual. The basic lessons regarding who each of these historical figures were is still there, however, and can serve to inspire people to learn more.

Lafayette Is A Leader Of Both America & France

America's Favorite Fighting Frenchman Is A Good Fit For Either Civilization

The newest leader to be announced for Civ 7 when it releases on February 11, 2025, is Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, more commonly known as simply Lafayette. His legacy spans both France and America, where he was a key figure in both countries' revolutions. As an important person for historical events in both, his character in Civ 7 fits nicely with both civilizations and has the potential to teach players about the events of his life and his focus on reform, which will provide players using him as a leader with an extra Social Policy slot.

Lafayette is expected to be a fun change of pace as a leader who, like Harriet Tubman and several others, have been surprising additions to the Civ 7 opening lineup. In life, Lafayette participated in the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, and the July Revolution of 1830 and has a cultural and diplomatic focus on his leadership qualities in the game. With his split attributes between America and France, he is a natural fit for the option of using a leader for any country, although the balance of historical figures may be a bit skewed now.

America & France Are Already Well Represented

Although Any Leader Can Be Used For Any Civilization In This Game

With the leaders currently announced for Civ 7, America and France both have two other natural leadership options aside from Lafayette. Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman both have American focuses, while Charlemagne and Napoleon are both aptly suited to the French civilization. While all of these figures approach their leadership in different ways and offer players different gameplay mechanics and strategies, the two countries having five leaders between them seems a bit unbalanced.

As said above, the makers of Sid Meier's Civilization games, Firaxis, are American based, so it is not surprising that the games may have a bit of a tendency to lean into American history over other countries. The games have a large global audience, however, and there are certainly a lot of impressive historical figures that come from other cultures who deserve a moment in the educational spotlight. There are still more leaders said to be coming which have not been announced yet, so this may make up for this by giving more weight to other cultures by the time the game is released.

Civ 7 Could Explore So Many Other Leaders

History Offers So Many Opportunities That Can Teach Of Other Cultures

Hopefully, some of the unannounced leaders coming to the game may feature some from Mesopotamia or Africa, both of which have little to no representation currently. Amina, who historically ruled Zazzau in what is now modern-day Nigeria, is the only available leader, so far, who was located in Africa. No Mesopotamian civilization leaders have been announced at this time, which is unusual for a Civilization game.

Even if America and France seem to be a bit over-represented in the current snapshot of the upcoming game, more leaders are still to come before the game releases and then additional DLCs will further fill out areas that have not been covered well. Firaxis has the opportunity to teach the gaming community about so many cultures across the history of the world that it would be a shame if it continued to focus on the more well-known civilizations.

That said, at this stage in marketing, it may make more sense for them to include leaders that prospective players are familiar with in order to help convince them to pick up Sid Meier's Civilization 7 at all.

Source: Sid Meier's Civilization/YouTube