“Close to grandmaster status”: Mark Zuckerberg has played Civilization for more than a thousand hours and believes he can beat anyone

Co-founder and head of Meta✴ Mark Zuckerberg has never hidden his love for the Sid Meier’s Civilization series of strategy games from Firaxis Games, but in a recent interview he made a bold statement on this matter.

Image Source: Push Square

According to Zuckerberg, when his wife looked at her husband’s Steam account, she was amazed at the amount of time her husband spent on one of the “Civilizations” – more than a thousand hours.

Zuckerberg does not specify which part of the series he is talking about – in the interview an old photo of a businessman behind a laptop with Civilization V running (see image below) flashes, but the description of the video mentions Civilization VI.

«I think one day I’ll have to play with someone on Twitch. I’m pretty sure I’m close to grandmaster status. I’d be surprised if there’s anyone in the world who can beat me,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with Pubity.

Image Source: Yahoo News

On the Reddit forum and other platforms, they doubted Zuckerberg’s ability to defeat the truly best Civilization players. The businessman has already been challenged to a duel by streamer PotatoMcWhiskey, who specializes in the franchise.

The loser will be forced to record a video recognizing the winner as the best player in the world. “See you in the arena, Zuckerberg,” the official Civilization YouTube account chimed in.

Currently, the entire gaming world (and probably Zuckerberg) is preparing for the release of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII. The new part will launch on February 11, 2025 on Steam (PC, Mac, Linux), EGS (PC), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, S and Nintendo Switch.