The Civilization series holds a special significance to many of us on the GameSpot staff, past and present. Some of my own fondest gaming memories involved Civilization II and not studying for an AP US History exam, though in my defense, it was a custom US Civil War campaign. That's still studying, right?

At any rate, Civilization has grown to be one of most beloved and enduring franchises in PC gaming, so naturally, we didn’t hesitate at the opportunity to produce our second Next Big Game feature around Firaxis' latest PC-exclusive project--Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth.

In case you didn't see our first Next Big Game for Titanfall, this is how it works. Each day for five days, there's a new story about Beyond Earth and, in some cases, the Civilization franchise. Right now, you can check our first piece--an extensive preview of the game with interviews from lead designers Will Miller and David McDonough, as well as lead producer Lena Brenk and senior producer of the Civilization franchise, Dennis Shirk.

If you're a lapsed Civ fan, on day two, we take a look back at the Civilization series, highlighting key facets of the franchise over the years. Day three should be of special significance to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri fans as we chat with members of the Beyond Earth team who worked on the sci-fi classic. Day four features an extensive one-on-one interview with Sid Meier and day five wraps things up with a video of the Firaxis panel from this weekend's PAX East.

We hope you enjoy what we've put together for this installment of The Next Big Game, as we were more than excited to put it together. As always, please continue to send in your suggestions for what you'd like to see featured for an upcoming Next Big Game.