Complete Edition and Where to Buy

0:00 Civilization 3 Complete, which holds the base game, Play the World and Conquests, costs $4.99 on Steam and $5.99 on GOG as of Oct 22, 2026, with no discount on either that day. It is the only edition sold today, for Windows only and in English only. Atari first put it in stores in September 2004 at $39.99; it has been on Steam since Oct 25, 2006 and on GOG, DRM-free, since Nov 30, 2016. Either store gives you the same three games, and both run the Conquests version, which includes everything Play the World added.

Quick facts

What is in Complete

Complete is the base game plus both expansions. Atari announced it on Aug 6, 2004 for "this September" at $39.99, and Worthplaying gave its retail date as Sep 14, 2004. Its manual, which Steam still serves as a PDF, covers all three games: 31 civilizations, the nine Conquests scenarios, multiplayer and the editor, Civ3ConquestsEdit.

You play the Conquests version. Conquests includes "all the features and content" of Play the World (GameSpot), so its rules, civilizations and scenarios are the full game, and mods such as C3X are made for its executable. One GOG user review says GOG's installer runs only the Conquests version, which no official source confirms or denies.

Steam

Steam sells Civilization 3 Complete as app 3910, for $4.99 in the US on Oct 22, 2026. It has been there since Oct 25, 2006, though the store page shows the game's original Oct 30, 2001 release date. Developer Firaxis Games and publisher 2K are listed, and Steam's features are single-player, multiplayer, a level editor and Family Sharing; there are no achievements (Steam).

Steam reviews are "Very Positive". On Oct 22, 2026 the review count stood at 7,012 positive of 7,839 in all languages, and the store page showed 91% of 4,118 English reviews positive. 1,211 people were playing at 03:16 UTC that day.

0:00 Steam's online play works, despite the store page. The page still says "Online Multiplayer to be suspended as of May 31st 2014, LAN mode still supported", but 2K's update of Mar 16, 2015 replaced GameSpy with Steam for online games, without the old Direct IP option. See Multiplayer.

Steam lists old requirements. Its only listed specification is "Windows 2000/XP (only)", a 400 MHz Pentium II, 128 MB of memory, 1.7 GB of disk and DirectX 9.0b, beside a note that the Steam client itself needs Windows 10 or later since Jan 1, 2024 (Steam). Steam's Deck report marks it "Unsupported". See Running Civilization 3 Today.

GOG

GOG sells Civilization 3 Complete DRM-free for $5.99 (Oct 22, 2026), as "the classic Civilization III plus both expansions: Play the World and Conquests" (GOG API). It has been on sale there since Nov 30, 2016. The download is one offline installer of about 1.36 GB, with the manuals as a bonus.

GOG's version needs DirectPlay on newer Windows. Its store page lists Windows 7, 8 or 10, a 1.4 GHz processor and 512 MB of memory, and says "DirectPlay must be installed on Windows 8 and later". Its features list shows single-player only, and GOG's build has no Steam lobby, so the 2015 Steam online play does not apply to it.

The older editions

Four boxed editions came before Complete, all long out of print. The Limited Edition of 2001 was a tin box "limited to 75,000 units" at about $59.99, with a making-of video, a video of Sid Meier's induction into the IDSA Hall of Fame, designer notes and a foldout technology tree. The Game of the Year Edition of Oct 2002 added a "Making of Civilization III" video and a keyboard card to the game at about $39.95. The Gold Edition of Oct 28, 2003 put the game and Play the World together for $39.99. Complete, with Conquests too, replaced them. Every date is on Release History.

Mac

No Mac version of Civilization 3 is sold today: Steam and GOG list Windows only. Aspyr's Civilization 3 Complete for Mac shipped on Jan 4, 2006 at $49.99, for Mac OS X 10.3.9 on a 500 MHz G4, and Macworld's review noted that owners of MacSoft's 2002 version got no upgrade discount. It was built for PowerPC Macs. OpenCiv3, a fan-made remake that runs on macOS, can use the graphics of an installed copy of Conquests or Complete (OpenCiv3).

Sales and giveaways

0:26 Civilization 3 Complete often goes on sale on Steam. The Firaxis 30th Anniversary Sale from May 1, 2026 took 80% off it, and the Civilization 35th Anniversary Franchise Sale of Sep 3 to 17, 2026 took 20%. In Oct 2017 the Humble Store gave away Steam keys for it free for two days, until Oct 21, per PC Gamer.

2K's own page for Civ 3 does not sell it; its Buy button leads to Civilization 7.

Which store should you buy from?

Both stores sell the same three games for about the same price, so the choice is about what you want around them. Steam's copy plays online through Steam (since the 2015 update); GOG's is DRM-free with an offline installer and no client. Neither sells a Mac version. If you still have the old discs, C3X's README notes that it works with the Steam and GOG versions, while CD versions need a replacement executable. See Running Civilization 3 Today.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Civilization 3 Complete? Civilization 3 Complete costs $4.99 on Steam and $5.99 on GOG in the US as of Oct 22, 2026, without a discount.

What is in Civ 3 Complete? Civilization 3 Complete contains the 2001 base game and both expansions, Play the World and Conquests, per GOG and Steam.

Is Civ 3 Complete better on Steam or GOG? Civilization 3 Complete is the same game on both: Steam's copy has Steam online multiplayer since the Mar 16, 2015 update, and GOG's is DRM-free and needs DirectPlay on Windows 8 and later.

Can I buy Civ 3 without the expansions? Not today: Civilization 3 is sold only as Complete, with both expansions, on Steam and GOG.

Is Civ 3 on Mac? Civilization 3 is not sold for the Mac today; Aspyr's 2006 Mac edition of Complete was made for PowerPC Macs (Macworld), and Steam and GOG sell Windows versions only.

Was Civ 3 ever free? Yes: Civilization 3 Complete was free on the Humble Store for two days in Oct 2017, per PC Gamer.

Sources

• Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete, Steam, read Oct 22, 2026
• appdetails, app 3910, Steam Store API, read Oct 22, 2026
• appdetails, app 3910, US prices, Steam Store API, read Oct 22, 2026
• appreviews, app 3910, Steam, read Oct 22, 2026
• GetNumberOfCurrentPlayers, app 3910, Steam Web API, Oct 22, 2026
• Steam Deck compatibility report, app 3910, Steam, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III Complete manual, Atari and Firaxis Games, 2005 (on Steam)
• Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete, GOG, read Oct 22, 2026
• Product 1471405734, GOG API, read Oct 22, 2026
• GOG catalog: Civilization III, GOG, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III: Complete announced, GameSpot, Aug 6, 2004
• Civilization III Complete Announced, Worthplaying, Aug 6, 2004
• Civilization: Conquests enters golden age, GameSpot (Tor Thorsen), Oct 24, 2003
• Civilization III limited edition available for preorder, GameSpot (Trey Walker), Sep 28, 2001
• Infogrames Ships Major Expansion Pack for Sid Meier's Civilization III, Infogrames, Oct 29, 2002
• Sid Meier's Civilization III Gold Edition Announced, Worthplaying, Sep 17, 2003
• Aspyr ships Civilization III: Complete, Macworld (Peter Cohen), Jan 4, 2006
• Civilization III: Complete, Macworld (Peter Cohen), Jan 26, 2006
• Civilization III Multiplayer Update Now Available, 2K on Steam, Mar 16, 2015
• Firaxis Anniversary Sale, 2K on Steam, Apr 30, 2026
• Civilization 35th Anniversary Franchise Sale, 2K on Steam, Sep 3, 2026
• Civilization 3 Complete is free on the Humble Store, PC Gamer (Andy Chalk), Oct 19, 2017
• Sid Meier's Civilization III, 2K, read Oct 22, 2026
• C3X, GitHub (maxpetul), read Oct 22, 2026
• OpenCiv3, OpenCiv3, read Oct 22, 2026
• How To Play Your First Game Of Civ 3, Suede, Feb 12, 2020 (video)
• How To Start Playing Civ 3 Online Multiplayer With The Civplayers Civ3 League, Suede, Nov 30, 2018 (video)