For USA 21st september and for Uk (and probably rest of the europe) 24th

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/civilization-v-gets-release-date

Awesome. My most waited game of the year. September will be pretty busy though. Halo Reach, Civ V and possibly GT5 in same month.

Thanks for the heads up!

So, I guess September is going to be a bit nasty... Civ alone is enough to occupy the whole damn month

I heard that they removed a bunch of things going from Civ IV, like eligion and espionage. I really hope they do not remove too much and simplify it for the newbies.

I can't believe they are removing religion. Human civilisation and religion are inseparable. I don't mind them getting rid of the spies, they were annoying.

I am assuming that coporations have also been cut, just going by what things they have cut.

Keep in mind that Civ3 didn't have religion, and it's the best Civ, at least in my opinion. I agree about the spies though, they never helped me and were my biggest annoyance.

I’m still a very huge fan of the original Civilization, and I think that a lot of the features they added (like Religion) have added complexity without really improving on the core game-play experience.

One thing I would like to see, which many people would probably consider dumbing down, would be for certain elements of the economy to manage themselves; as they do in real life. For example, if you’re in a capitalist economy the portion of production you (the government) has is greatly reduced but the citizens of a city will build things or develop technologies they need for their own profit. To a certain extent you can take this kind of game-play to new heights and organizations that are (supposedly) smaller than countries (like religions, corporations, etc.) grow in power and actually can influence the game.

The spie were awesome, send them to  emote ton and steal their tech. Though all the other things you could do were not as great, bt the steal tech was absolutely awesome.

1. Religion is a very good thing to have in the overall complexity of the game and your relationships with other civs. I liked it and made it part of my gameplay.

2. Spies were also useful to keep allies or enemies from utilizing rare resources. Though I wish it had the capability to overthrow cities and stack options.

3. Civ4 >> Civ3.

4. I can't wait for September.

I'll admit some of the changes do sound like they may be disappointing, as I personally loved religions, corporations and whatever else...

Still, although it may not be as good as its predecessors, I know I'll at least end up enjoying the game, so there's no use worrying about it. I can only hope the changes will be for the better!