Update: Valve's Doug Lombardi notes that Steam will carry the new bundle for the equivalent price of $40.

Original story: 2K Games today announced the upcoming release of Civilization IV: The Complete Edition, a retail compilation of the original turn-based strategy title and its three expansion packs: Warlords, Beyond the Sword and Colonization.

The edition will be priced at $39.99, making this the perfect solution for anyone that hasn't yet experienced getting sucked into a weekend-long Civ marathon of embarrassing proportions.

The Complete Edition hits stores on May 12. For those wary of retail copy-protection issues, the box is entirely DRM-free.

2K Games has released a second demo for Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, the newly released strategy game expansion pack. The new demo includes the Charlemagne scenario. If you missed the first demo with the Final Frontier scenario, you can find it here.

New at FiringSquad today is this Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Q&A, asking Firaxis producer Jesse Smith about the newly released expansion pack.

Computer & Video Games has a Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword preview this morning, checking out the upcoming strategy game expansion pack.

GameSpot's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword preview is up, offering more impressions of this strategy game expansion pack. A bunch of new screenshots and movies are available too.

There's a Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword preview on IGN this evening, offering four pages of impressions. The strategy game expansion pack will be released next month.

The Firaxis Games website has been updated with a new podcast. The 21 minute long MP3 is all about the Civilization 4 expansion Beyond The Sword.

The guys at play.tm have posted a Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Q&A, talking to Firaxis designer Alex Mantzaris about this upcoming expansion pack. Topics include corporations, espionage, new wonders, AI, new gameplay scenarios and additional multiplayer options.

IGN has a preview of Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, checking out the new features and scenarios available in this expansion pack. GameSpot also has a preview.

IGN has a Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Q&A posted, asking lead designer Alex Mantzaris about the new features and content found in the expansion pack. Beyond the Sword ships late July.

2K Games sends along word that the Civilization IV expansion Beyond the Sword will head to North American stores July 23, and to stores worldwide at the end of that month. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will include 12 new scenarios, 10 new civilizations, 16 new leaders and 5 new wonders along with enhanced AI and more.

As noted on the Steam website, Civilization IV: Warlords and CivCity: Rome are now available through Valve's digital download application. The Warlords expansion is $29.95 while CivCity: Rome will set you back $39.95.

Publisher 2K Games issued this press release today, announcing that a new Civilization IV expansion pack titled Beyond the Sword is in the works. It promises a "massive" increase in units, buildings, and technologies, and will feature 12 new scenarios, 10 new civilizations, 16 new civilization leaders, five new wonders and much much more. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will be released this July.

A patch for the Civilization IV expansion pack Warlords is now available, upgrading it to version 2.08. The 59mb download offers AI improvements, multiplayer fixes, graphics fixes, interface changes and more.

Apolyton Civilization Site has posted the last part of their Prototyping for Civilization IV video, taped during this year's ApolyCon '06. Part four, which fell through the cracks here, is found here.

Apolyton Civilization Site has been updated with more coverage from its ApolyCon '06 event, offering part five of the video on modding Civilization IV. Since we missed some of the previous installments, part four is here and part three here.

Apolyton Civilization Site has been updated with the third part of their 'Prototyping for Civilization IV' video which was shot during last month's ApolyCon. We forgot to mention part two of this video, but you can find that here.

According to Idle Thumbs, UK publication The Independent reports that well known science fiction author Iain Banks has had to push the release of his next novel into next year thanks to the debilitating effects of Civilization addiction. The book was due this year, and this delay apparently marks the first time Banks has ever missed a deadline. Presumably, the culprit was Firaxis' recently released Civilization IV, though this was not confirmed.

"It's all because I became a serial addict of the computer game 'Civilisation' [sic]" Said Banks, "I played it for three months and then realised I hadn't done any work. In the end, I had to delete all the saved files and smash the CD. It is very unprofessional of me. I had to ask for an extension for the first time, which made me feel just like I was a student again."

Having myself been severely addicted to the original Sid Meier's Civilization in the early 90s, I am fully sympathetic to Banks' plight. In fact, to this day I have never played any of the sequels to Civilization. And why not? Out of fear.

The Apolyton Civilization Site has been updated, offering part two of their five part Modding Civilization IV video. The video was shot during a presentation at this year's ApolyCon.

Apolyton Civilization Site has another video from last month's ApolyCon '06, this time covering a Firaxis presentation on protoyping Civilization IV. The first part of the five part series runs for 22 minutes.