Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization

About

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is the third offering in the award winning Civilization IV series. A re-imagining of the classic Colonization game Sid Meier created in 1994, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a total conversion of the Civilization IV engine into a game experience in which players will lead a European nation on their quest to colonize and thrive in the New World.

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8
Based on
1246 reviews
Country Compatibility:
Languages:
Developer:
Firaxis Games
Publisher:
2K Games
Release date:
23 September 2008
Genre:
Strategy
Recent Steam reviews:
Not specified
All Steam reviews:
Very Positive (1246)
User tags*:SimulationSingleplayerMultiplayerHistoricalTurn-Based Strategy

Media

Game features

Single-player

Multi-player

Family Sharing

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Description

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is the third offering in the award winning Civilization IV series. A re-imagining of the classic Colonization game Sid Meier created in 1994, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a total conversion of the Civilization IV engine into a game experience in which players will lead a European nation on their quest to colonize and thrive in the New World. Players will be challenged to guide their people from the oppressive motherland, discover a New World, negotiate, trade and fight as they acquire great power and battle for their freedom and independence.
  • Classic Game Design Rebuilt for the Modern Era: Usher forth a new generation of Sid Meier's Colonization gameplay built on the award-winning Civilization IV engine, providing the beautiful visuals, famously addictive gameplay and endless fun that are synonymous with Sid Meier strategy games.
  • Fight the Homeland and Establish a New Nation: Play as the English, Spanish, French or the Dutch and journey to a brave new world in search of freedom from your oppressive homeland.
  • Improved Diplomacy: Sustain peace and support your followers as you engage in advanced negotiations with natives, other colonists and the hostile homeland - Trade resources, gold and land as you build the foundation for a self-sufficient and powerful colony.
  • Historical Figures Provide Adaptive Gameplay: Acquire founding fathers such as John Smith, Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams who will help guide your nation to freedom based on your gameplay style.
  • Brand New Interface: Both Civilization IV fans and players new to the series will feel right at home with an interface that Firaxis has built to be accessible and easy to navigate.
  • Multiplayer Offers Endless Replay Value: Compete with friends from all over the world via the Internet and Play by Email modes or compete locally via the Hotseat and LAN modes, offering endless ways to conquer the New World.
  • Mods & Community Tools: Players will have limitless options for modifying the game to suit their needs. Firaxis will ship the game with modding tools including a map editor using XML and Python.

Recommended system requirements

minimum*

Supported OS:
Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
Processor:
1.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor or equivalent
Memory:
512 MB RAM
Video:
DirectX 9.0c-compatible 64 MB video card with Shader 1.1 Support or better
DirectX® Version:
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization DirectX(r) version (included on install)
Sound:
DirectX 9.0 compliant sound card
Hard Drive:
900 MB

recommended*

Processor:
1.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor or equivalent
Memory:
1 GB RAM
Video:
128 MB Video Card w/ DirectX 9 support (pixel & vertex shaders)
Sound:
DirectX 9.0 compliant sound card

User reviews

SaneBob
Recommended | 19 Dec 2025
446h played

Great version of the old game. civ4 is dated of course, but it still stands up to modern 4x. The TAC mod is fun, but the WTP mod puts this game into overdrive. I love the discovery and development stages of the game and

Helpful: 7
Banzai
Recommended | 22 Mar 2026
192h played

Its obviously a little dated now but its a very unique Civ experience as compared to the mostly the same but reskinned versions of the main base game. It really does feel like you are colonising the new world, as your

Helpful: 8
ajlillie
Not recommended | 07 Nov 2025
308h played

The game is fine, but I will not be buying anything from steam in the future until they change their policy about more than one person logging on at the same time to play it. My son cannot play a game while I am playing

Helpful: 3
austentatious.tona
Recommended | 03 Nov 2025
22.7h played

This game really offers an economical perspective of the colonial era. The game really focuses in on the economy of producing goods and selling them to Europe Will strengthening your colony. Good game for laptops and

Helpful: 2
Andre.Miksha
Recommended | 11 Jan 2026
227h played

I have yet to find a 4X (or 4X-adjacent) game that more realistically requires resource management and trade than this one. As a player of the Civilization franchise going back to the original in the early 1990s, one of

Helpful: 1
koolkat44
Recommended | 11 Jan 2026
31.1h played

If you have ever wanted to know what its like taking over the new world, this is the game for you! It's not easy and it would help to watch some videos on how to play, but once you get what's happening: it's so much

Helpful: 1