I'd like to think I'm a people person. I might not agree with 75 percent of what other people say or think or believe, but I get along. It's what I do. In today's society it works, for the most part. In Civilization V it didn't, at least not until now. It's a Brave New World, and I almost conquered it with commerce.

Firaxis today announced at their PAX East panel that the recently announced Civilization V expansion, named Brave New World, will release in North America on July 9th. International gamers can expect to play the expansion on July 12th.

Today Firaxis—the makers of both XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Civilization V—announced that you can research something called the XCOM Project in your game of Civ V.

Civilization V's second expansion pack, dubbed Brave New World, brings a sharper focus on culture and diplomacy, with new civilizations, wonders, and more. Yes, more!

Oh boy. This one hurt.

I appear to be one of a rare breed of person who, on the internet at least, is proud to have enjoyed Civilization V. I thought the shift to hexes and abandonment of unit "stacking" was the best thing the series had done in years, and while it wasn't perfect - the AI could have done with some work - on the whole, I had …

Watch a whole bunch of new civilizations take over the world in this new trailer for Civilization V: Gods & Kings, the upcoming Civ V expansion pack that will be out for PC on June 19. New additions to the game include Austria, the Netherlands, and Ethiopia, among others.

So, I have to be honest: I've spent two years avoiding Civilization V on purpose. It's not that I have anything against the evolution of city-states into empires, or that I find resource-gathering, diplomacy, and warfare uninteresting. In fact, it's exactly the opposite: I am deeply, painfully susceptible to the…

Ed Beach talks rapid-fire when he's dishing details on Gods & Kings, the Civilization V expansion pack that Firaxis announced this morning. I can't blame him. He's got a lot to say.