Inside Social Games

Huge news for those of us who are still fighting decades-long addictions the Civilization strategy game series. It is coming to Facebook, according to game creator Sid Meier, and will be called Civilization Network. Let’s just say that we here at Inside Social Games intend to conduct a lengthy review as soon as possible.

Meier posted a few more details yesterday on the game’s Facebook page:

Civilization Network will allow you to join together with your friends to create the world’s most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization. You can coordinate your strategy to win great battles, share your technology to jump ahead of your rivals, lobby your family and friends to form your own government and win vital elections, manage and grow your cities to maximize production and happiness, spy on your enemies, and work with your friends to create the great Wonders of the World. The game will offer everything you enjoy in Civ in a fully persistent environment – you can play as much as you like, whenever you like, and it’ll be free to play.

Recent version of Civilization, including its amazing Civ IV version, offered ways to play other people online, but the integration with social networks promises to make that a lot easier. Imagine major activities, high scores, and other information going into your Facebook news feed and profile. Imagine being able to find your friends who are playing the game, then team up (or battle) them for world domination. Judging by the description, expect some of the rather rudimentary team features to get big upgrades. Yes, things are about to get very serious for many Facebook friendships.

We’re also interested to see what sort of business model comes with the game: Ads, subscriptions, even virtual goods?

The beta is coming soon, so fan the page if you’re interested in trying to get in on that. The full launch is planned for next year.