Ever since it launched on mobile Aspyr Media has been slowly releasing new DLC and updates for Civilization VI (Free) on iOS and Android. The most recent content updates have been for the Leader Pass while we’ve seen minor bug fix updates a few months ago. Ever since iOS 17.4 hit, the game has not been playable on iOS or iPadOS devices running it or 17.4.1. I hadn’t played the game on mobile at all since updating, so was not aware of this. Thanks to a tip from a reader over the weekend, I’ve been looking into this and have tried launching the game on all devices I have at home. Across four different iPhones and three iPads, the game does not let you play anymore. It gives you an error on launching, and remains on the splash screen shown below. I tried reinstalling it and had no luck. Aspyr confirmed that it is aware of this over a month ago, but there is no ETA on a fix.

Games and apps breaking on newer iOS versions isn’t new, but when you have a game like Civilization VI that costs more to get the DLC and game (outside sales) on mobile than other platforms, you expect some level of support. As of this writing, I don’t recommend buying the game on iOS until this is fixed. Who knows how long it will take as we still don’t even have updates to improve the visuals for iPads from years ago, let alone the current ones. If you’ve not played it yet, read our initial iPad review here and my updated review with expansions and more here based on how the game was when it still worked on up to date iOS versions then. I also reviewed the New Frontier Pass content and the state of the game in 2021 on iOS here. You can try out Civilization VI for free on the App Store for iOS here, and I recommend checking it again when either iOS or the game get updated to make sure it works before buying. I’ve reached out to Aspyr to check in on the status of the fix, and will update this news story if we hear back.