The announcement was made in a release by Sid Meier on the official Facebook fan page for his company, Firaxis.

In Meier's statement, he describes the game as being ,"everything you enjoy in Civ in a fully persistent environment - you can play as much as you like, whenever you like, and it’ll be free to play."

The concept and control of the game will follow what has been established in the Civilization series since its original launch in 1991, with the added functionality of competitive and cooperative play across a social network, adding the touted element of a persistent environment to the entire game.

Players will be able to engage others in battle, share technology, establish governments, hold elections, administer cities, and more. Sid Meier, the creative director, also said that users can "spy on enemies and work with friends to create the great Wonders of the World." Meier has yet to announce how users will control elements of the game. Meier, in his statement, did state that the game will be made available free of charge.http://www.facebook.com/civnetwork?v=info

Official screen shots of the beta test phase have not been released by Firaxis. Meier stated that developmental updates and information pertaining to signing up to participate in the beta testing will be posted exclusively on their official Facebook page.http://www.facebook.com/civnetwork?v=info