After a long development cycle, 2K and Firaxis games released a trailer for the next Civilization VI expansion. Entitled Gathering Storm, the new content promises to bring back old features while shifting the game in an exciting direction.

As the title indicates, the natural world plays an essential role in the expansion. The trailer depicts a series of natural disasters, including a massive earthquake and a volcanic eruption. These can devastate your nation and demolish your greatest buildings. How will you respond to the destruction of a Wonder? (If you’re anything like me, with the rage of a thousand burning suns.)

Conversely, players will also shape the world around them. Natural resources power electricities in your cities, which means players will eventually need to make a choice. Do they carry on the coal and oil route, or shift to renewable resources? Choices can raise temperatures and sea levels, so countries in low areas could lose swarths of land to environmental catastrophe. The new material looks stunning and feels timely, another potential home run for the franchise.

In order to prevent the world from destroying itself, Civilization VI is bringing back the Diplomatic Victory condition. While details have yet to be released, previous iterations meant being voted World Leader in the United Nations/World Congress. For those few who refuse to go the Nuke Everything route, this serves as a welcome option.

Of course, players desire new world leaders to interact with. Nine new leaders from eight countries will join Civilization VI. Expect 2K and Firaxis to start releasing detailed breakdowns soon, as they did previously. Given the nature of the expansion, don’t expect Donald Trump to be among the nine. Future technology, wonders, units, and buildings round out the new content, making this DLC well worth the wait.

If you’ve ever played any Sid Meier’s Civilization titles, you know how addicting they can be. However, these games require regular fresh content, and Civilization VI hasn’t received any major updates in quite some time. The game’s previous expansion, Rise and Fall, dropped last February. A year and a week will separate the two expansions. While some diehard fans (myself included) can’t quit saying “just one more turn,” we’ve been getting impatient. Thankfully, Gathering Storm looks like a drastic change for the franchise while still maintaining the franchise’s essence.

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm launches February 14, 2019 for PC with a $40 price tag. Mac and Linux versions will arrive sometime after. 2K and Firaxis have yet to announce iOS and Nintendo Switch release dates for the expansion.

What do you think of the Gathering Storm trailer? Are you excited to dive back into the game? Any guesses on the new leaders and nations? Sound off in the comments below, and follow DFTG on Facebook and Twitter for more gaming news!

Thanks, IGN.