Civilization: Beyond Earth release date announced, E3 game footage released

Just when will humanity embrace its unknown future? Or re-embrace, I guess—what with Civilization: Beyond Earth being the spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri, and all. Firaxis' forward-looking Civ will take players to the stars this October 27th. To celebrate the new count-down, 2K have released footage from an E3 demo of the game.

Ooh.

Now that you know when Beyond Earth is being released, Firaxis have also announced what you'll get for buying it before that date. Pre-orderers will get the Exoplanets Map Pack, a DLC mini-drop "inspired by real exoplanets". Here's what's inside:

• "Kepler 186f: This lush forest planet is one of the oldest known Earth-like planets;

• "Rigil Khantoris Bb: Orbiting the closest star to our solar system, the historical records of this arid continental planet's settlement are well-preserved;

• "Tau Ceti d: This planet of seas and archipelagos features a booming biodiversity and a wealth of resources;

• "Mu Arae f: Tidally locked in orbit around a weak star, the southern hemisphere of this planet is a blistering desert where the sun never sets, while the northern hemisphere is perpetually in frozen darkness;

• "82 Eridani e: An alien world of scarce water and wracked by tectonic forces;

• "Eta Vulpeculae b: A mysterious new discovery with unknown terrain."

Tom's already glimpsed the future, when he played Civilization: Beyond Earth at Firaxis mission control. For more on the game, check out his hands-on report .

Civilization: Beyond Earth will retail for $50/£27.