How Sid Meiers Civilization VII Showcases Filipino Culture Through Jose Rizal

On January 24, the official Twitter account of Sid Meier's Civilization VII posted a tweet that I had been looking forward to for years. In it, a man spoke these words: "Walang bansang pinagmumulan ng katalinuhan. Ito ay nagbubunga sa lahat ng lugar. Ito'y parang liwanag at hangin. Ito'y katangian ng lahat." In English, this roughly translates to "genius/intellect is not exclusive to any country. It can blossom anywhere. It is like light and air. It is in all of us."

Those are the words of Dr. Jose Rizal, accomplished author, scholar, polyglot, and venerated hero of the Philippines. The moment I heard those words, spoken in clear Tagalog--one of the many dialects of my people--I couldn't help but tear up. It wasn't just because the Philippines finally became an official part of the Civilization franchise with Rizal as a playable leader, but also because my country and its 117 million citizens--with countless more who live abroad--have long been underrepresented in video games.

True, we've seen a few Filipino video game characters over the years, such as Jose Astrada and Pham Luis (Front Mission 3), Talim (SoulCalibur), Conduit (Apex Legends), and Neon (Valorant), but these were more akin to stereotypical depictions of what a Filipino character might be like. Even Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada admitted in a Twitter post that a Filipino fighter that he created, Josie, only bore the good doctor's surname after he heard about Rizal through FGC commentator Mark "Markman" Julio. (Josie's announcement even led to a minor controversy a few years ago here in the Philippines.)