Civilization 6 is about to get much, much weirder. A post on the Civilization blog on Thursday announced the "Australian Summer 2017 update," available now, includes support for Steam Workshop and modding tools for anyone who wants to give Dr. Eggman his own Civilization. The update also includes team support for multiplayer, premium DLC for the Australia civilization, and the usual balance changes and bugfixes.

The mod tools include the following, as detailed on the blog: 

  • Added Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Development Tools, which includes ModBuddy, Tools, FireTuner, and the Steam Workshop Uploader.
  • ModBuddy: A packaging and development tool.
  • Art/Asset Tools: Import FBX files into a format usable by the game, as well as customize existing art.
  • FireTuner: In-game debugging and editing tool.
  • Added Sid Meier’s Civiliation VI Development Assets, which includes the game art assets. This is a large download (approximately 7GB compressed download and 27GB on disk) which contains game assets, including models, textures, and interface elements.

The post also adds that ModBuddy will be updated in the future as part of a modding SDK update, and that "these tools do not include DLL source for Civilization VI at this time." 

The Australia DLC marks the first time an Australian civilization has appeared in the series. We got a first look at it on Tuesday, and it turned out "coming soon" really meant soon. The Civ blog says Australia has been a "consistent top pick by our fans," which finally earned it a seat at the table. The Australia civilization and scenario pack costs $5 and includes the 'Outback Tycoon' scenario, which the blog describes like so:

"In this 60 turn non-combat scenario, you race to explore Australia, find its natural resources, and use them to enrich your colony. This competitive economic scenario has no combat. It emphasizes exploration and territorial expansion to increase your Gold per Turn net income, which is your score."

Modding/Steam Workshop support, and the rest of the changes in this patch, are free.