Julius Caesar comes to Civilization 6 for free

Julius Caesar is coming back to the Civilization series, and will hit the game starting on November 21, 2022, free for anyone who links a 2K account to Civilization 6. It'll be the first time in a while that Julius Caesar takes the reigns of Rome, acting as an alternative to Trajan, the current leader.

Caesar comes as an addition to the first of the new Leader Pass releasing on the same day, the Great Negotiators Pack, adding Abraham Lincoln (United States), Queen Nzinga Mbande (Kongo), and Sultan Saladin (Arabia).

As you might expect for a leader famed for his conquests, Caesar has more than a few bonuses to having a nice war or two. He gets gold the first time he conquers an enemy city, or for clearing barbarian outposts. That amount increases once you research the Steel technology. Caesar's abilities should synchronize well with Rome's built-in powers—that free money will help you keep your armies fresh, and Rome's free roads will help you keep those new cities connected to the empire.

Julius Caesar is a classic character, leading the Roman faction from Civilizations 1 through 4 before stepping back and letting adopted son Augustus Caesar take over for Civilization 5, and giving the throne over to Trajan for most of Civilization 6's tenure. Looks like he's back from that little vacation and ready to stretch his world-conquering legs again. 

It's kinda cool to see new stuff for Civilization 6, a game that Firaxis had previously seemed like they were done with. The Civilization 6 Anthology Edition, released Summer 2021, was billed as the complete experience. That's still technically true, I guess, since if you own that edition you'll get the upcoming new leader pass for free.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.