Almost time for blast-off. Firaxis' space age spin-off Civilization: Beyond Earth is now ready to pre-load on Steam, ahead of its full release on October 24.
If you fancy indulging in a little practice empire-building before then, there's some more good news. Firaxis has also made Civilization 5 free to play until Beyond Earth launches.
For extra points, see if you can time it so you finish up a Science Victory in Civ 5 just in time to segue into Beyond Earth. There's no achievement or anything, it'd just be pretty cool. Pre-ordering Beyond Earth will net you the Exoplanets DLC pack, which adds six custom maps inspired by real-life exoplanets.
Set in the not-so-distant future, Civilization: Beyond Earth tasks you with founding an exploratory human
colony on an uncharted, alien planet. Expect robots and laser-tanks rather than chariots and triremes, basically.
