While we were distracted gushing over horseback stealth and hair dragons last week during E3, 2K Games quietly released another Civilization V: Brave New World trailer. Now that we've had time to see it, hey, it's a short but interesting look at one of the expansion's big new features: the World Congress and its new diplomatic win.

Watch: Working to build the International Space Station »

It's a testament to Civilization 5's thoughtful, historically-based gameplay that the addition of international trade routes is a major pillar of the upcoming Brave New World expansion. Firaxis has talked quite a bit about the new ideology and cultures, so it's time for trade to have its day in the sun.

Watch: Forge your own routes »

The Civilization 5: Brave New World is bringing a new ideology system to the game, as well as adding some social policies. A new trailer for the expansion goes into a bit more detail on how these will make it easier to become ruler of the known world.

Watch: Aesthetics and Exploration policies »

Firaxis has announced two more of the nine cultures being added to Civilization 5's Brave New World expansion. Indonesia and Morocco will join the set, joining Poland, Brazil, Assyria, Zulu, and Portugal, with two civilizations still remaining to be revealed.

Read more: Cultures' special features detailed »

The Civilization 5: Brave New World expansion puts new focus on tourism and culture, including a new Cultural victory that lets you besiege other civs with just how cool you are with all the works of your new artists and composers. A new trailer goes into a bit more detail, including how the masterpieces will bring in the tourists.

Watch: Be the envy of other cultures »

Firaxis is slowly unwrapping Civilization 5's next expansion, Brave New World, as we approach its July 9 release. Today the company revealed a large increase to the number of available civilizations, along with details on the new trade routes and ideology systems.

Read more: 43 civilizations, trade routes detailed »

Civilization 5 is preparing to reinvent itself, again. The Brave New World expansion, which launches July 9, is going to make serious shifts to the late-game content, revising both the cultural and diplomatic victories. We talked with lead designer Ed Beach and senior producer Dennis Shirk about the expansion's focus and goals.

Read more: How to make culture less 'passive experience' »

Civilization 5 is heading into the Brave New World this summer. Firaxis put a pin on a release date during its PAX East panel this weekend, stating it will be available on July 9.

Read more: Includes revisions to cultural, diplomatic victories »

Culture, trade and diplomacy are to become more important in Civilization 5 with Brave New World, the second expansion pack, announced today by publisher 2K Games. Arriving this summer, it'll bring a new culture victory condition, international trade routes, the new World Congress, and heaps more.

New civilizations, units, and buildings »

Civilization 5 lead designer Jon Shafer has kickstarted a new 4X turn-based strategy game called Jon Shafer's At the Gates, coming from his new three-person indie studio, Conifer Games. The game is about half-way complete already and he is looking for a modest $40,000 target to get it officially off the ground.

"The core aspects of the game are all in-place, but a lot of the peripheral, more 'boring' work still needs to be done," he told Shacknews. "Things like sound effects and hotkey systems. We also want to polish up the art and add nice 2D animations for all the units and the landscape. The gameplay also needs iteration time. The features are in but the game hasn't had much playtesting, and I'm sure it's not very much fun to play at this rough stage! There’s also a lot of AI work still left to do."

Read more: Sid Meier school of game names »

Civilization V may be getting another large chunk of content. A listing for an expansion titled "One World" has been spotted on a database, fueling rumors of more content to come for the world culture simulator.

Read more: Steam database no guarantee »

Ever keen to experiment with digital distribution, Steam is trying something unusual on XCOM: Enemy Unknown pre-orders with publisher 2K. Rather than offering fixed bonuses, Steam will unlock increasingly fancy goodies as more people pre-order, including extra character customisation options, Team Fortress 2 hats, and a free copy of Civilization V.

Read more: Classic X-COM hair for the Soldier »

Civilization V recently got a lot more holy with the Gods and Kings expansion, but some of you fence-sitters haven't yet indulged in abusing religion for your own selfish ambitions. If you're still itching to give your theocracy a try, you'll be happy to know that a demo for the game is now available.

Read more: Religions, city-states, and espionage »

Firaxis is cutting out Civilization V's existing mod browsing system to slip in Valve's sleek and chic Steam Workshop, publisher 2K Games has announced. As in Portal 2 and Skyrim, it'll let you easily peruse, download, rate, and submit mods through your browser or the Steam client.

Read more: For both Civ V and the Gods & Kings expansion »

Civilization V is getting ready for some of that old time religion, also known as polytheism. To mark the Gods and Kings expansion, Firaxis and 2K Games are offering the game as free to play for this weekend, lasting from today until Sunday, May 27.

Read more: 75% off Civilization V and DLC »