Nearly two years after it was first announced, the long awaited Facebook strategy game Civilization World is very close to being played by the general public. In an email press release today, developer Firaxis Games and publisher 2K Games have announced that the open beta test for Civilization World will begin sometime next week. The game is being developed largely by Sid Meier himself, the famed creator of the Civilization turn-based strategy series, who is supposed to personally be hand coding the game.
The game itself has become something of the Duke Nukem Forever for the Facebook game set. Unlike other games made for the social networking service, which are developed and launched in a matter of months, Civilization World was first announced way back in October 2009. The game started a limited alpha test earlier in 2011 and entered closed beta testing back in May.
Much like previous PC games in the Civilization series, Civilization World (or CivWorld) is a turn-based strategy game where you will build up your empire with the help of some advisors. However Civilization World also allows players to work with friends to help achieve goals such as creating a new Wonder or researching new technologies. The game will allow for up to 200 people to play with and/or against each other in a match. Like most other Facebook games Civilization World will be free to play but will also have a way to purchase "Civ-Bucks" in order to pay for premium in-game virtual items.