For the past day, Firaxis and 2K held a livestream counting down to a special announcement. Throughout the livestream, the weather got worse and worse before a trailer finally played to reveal Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, an upcoming expansion for the PC version of the game that is releasing on February 14.

While the trailer is purely cinematic (and finally kills Sean Bean), the developers did detail the gameplay enhancements the expansion brings on their official website. In addition to the weather and world ecosystem enhancements suggested by the title, Gathering Storm is also poised to bring several new civilizations, wonders, engineering project, and more. Its release will also mark the return of World Congress, which last made an appearance in Sid Meier's Civilization V.

More specifically, maps within Sid Meier's Civilization VI will be much more dynamic and ever-changing once Gathering Storm is installed. Flood-planes have been fleshed out more and can now dynamically appear on tiles next to rivers or lakes. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions will happen periodically as well and damage the tiles around it; that being said, those tiles also have very fertile soil.

Droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, dust storms, and blizzards will also occasionally form, and may have a noticeable impact on one's strategy. Fortunately, these negative effects can be negated with new districts, buildings, and engineering projects. For example, building a Dam district will prevent flooding from being devastating and may even fertilize nearby tiles.

The developers are also working to make map terrain more accurate to what would actually happen if those continental divides or plates were placed like that. Players will also have to worry about global warming in the later half of the game, so producing Coal, Uranium, and Oil will have a noticeable impact on the world.

On the gameplay side of things, the aforementioned World Congress has been added and will allow players to vote on decisions with worldwide impacts and really flex their political muscles. Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm will also add new engineering projects regarding canals, dams, tunnels and railroads, 21st century technologies and civics, nine new leaders across eight civilizations, fourteen new wonders, an enhanced espionage system, and two new scenarios.

You can check out the announcement trailer for Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm below. While a PC release date has been confirmed for February 14, it is currently unknown if or when the expansion will make its way to iOS or Nintendo Switch version of the game that just released