Civ 7 devs revealed that they are not ruling out Gandhi’s return to the game, but the Indian leader might come back as DLC. Read on to learn more about why Firaxis Games left Gandhi out of the game’s initial leader roster!
Civ 7 Devs Considers Bringing Back Past Civs and their Leaders
There is Still Hope for Gandhi and Other Civ Leaders
There is still hope for Gandhi as Civ 7 leader, revealed after an IGN with Civ 7 lead designer Ed Beach on February 13, 2025. Gandhi might come down the line, but it might take some time and be in the form of DLC.
Sitting on an IGN interview, Beach explains why previous civs and their leaders are not included in Civ 7. "So I would say we haven't forgotten about anybody who's been in our game before," Beach said. "Certainly civilizations, there's a lot of consternation right now about where's Great Britain or England, why aren't they in our game?"
The main reason why Firaxis Games did not include Britain or India in Civ 7 was they needed to leave someone out of the game. "There're just too many popular choices and we always want to have a few fresh ones that sound really new and exciting to people," Beach explained. "So things are getting left behind, but we always are looking at the big picture, when we're going to bring leaders or civs into the fold. So there's hope for Gandhi, yet."
Considering the long list of DLCs released in Civ 6, it is safe to assume that Gandhi will make it to Civ 7. However, the exact timing of this leader’s return remains unclear at the moment.
Civilization’s “Nuclear Gandhi” Myth
Gandhi is one of the most popular Civilization leaders in the franchise due to a myth associated with nuclear weapons. According to the legend, Gandhi, from the first Civilization game, was relatively peaceful. However, a bug makes this leader hyper-aggressive after adopting a Democracy type of government, giving access to nuclear weapons. After that, Gandhi would go rogue, raining down nuclear bombs on hostile civs.
Though Firaxis Games denied this bug, Civ 5 and Civ 6 clearly referenced the myth, as Gandhi, in these games, preferred building nuclear facilities and launching nukes. If you want to learn more about this myth, check out this Civ 7 article!
Source:
IGN Interview with Ed Beach