'Civilization 6' release date, news: Pericles will lead Greece when game arrives in October

After revealing the civilization of Norway last week, developer Firaxis Games and publisher 2K Games unveiled the Greeks for its upcoming installment, "Civilization VI." This time, it will be Pericles, the prominent orator of Athens, who will lead the empire when the game hits the shelves on Oct. 21.

The Greeks will be lead by the influential statesman and a general of the Athens army, Pericles, and will arrive on Oct. 21.Civilization official website

In describing the Athenian orator, the game's official website states: "Pericles was an influential Greek statesman and general of the Athens army during the Golden Age of Athens. He oversaw a period of strong economic and cultural growth immediately following the successful defense against the invading Persian army in 478 BC."

It also added that: "After making peace with Persia, Pericles moved the unified Greek armies to Athens and what was a loose collection of independent Greek city-states soon after became the Athenian Empire. During this time of unification, Athens produced some of the most influential cultural artifacts humanity has ever seen, and was home to famous playwrights, historians, philosophers, physicians and more."

Pericles also carries an extra leader ability called Surrounded by Glory, which gives an extra bonus to Culture for every city it annexes. Additionally, players opting to use the Greeks will also have the special ability called Plato's Republic. This gives an extra wildcard civics slot, in any form of government, and gives an extra maneuvering space for policies that needs to be implemented.

The civilization will have access to the unique Hoplite army. These are citizen-soldiers that were only trained with military basics. They carry long and short spears, and they are fitted with bronze armor, but each unit receives combat bonuses whenever it sits beside another Hoplite unit. They are a force to be reckoned when in the phalanx formation.

Acropolis will now act as its unique district, replacing the Theater district from the previous game. It gets a culture bonus if it sits right next to other districts. However, since it literally means "upper city," it must be located on a hill in order to reap its benefits.

"Civilization VI" will have a worldwide release on Oct. 21, and it will be available for the Windows PC.