- Mark Zuckerberg loves playing the strategy video game, “Civilization.”
- “I think at some point, I should do like a Twitch stream of me playing with someone,” he said.
- Meta released its Twitch-like rival, Facebook Gaming, in 2020, but it failed to make a splash.
Mark Zuckerberg’s been thinking of starting a Twitch stream for his favorite strategy video game.
“In terms of strategy games, the one that I’m more likely to want to be the best in the world at is Civilization,” the Meta founder told media startup Pubity.
The interview, filmed at the Meta Connect 2024 conference, was published on Monday by Pubity’s TikTok channel. Meta’s conference ran from September 24 to 25.
“Priscilla looked at my Steam account the other day and she’s like: ‘What? You’ve played this for more than a 1,000 hours?'” Zuckerberg said, referring to his wife. Steam is a PC gaming distribution platform and store.
“I think at some point, I should do like a Twitch stream of me playing with someone,” the billionaire added. “Because I’m pretty convinced that I’m close to grandmaster status. I’d be surprised if anyone in the world could beat me at that.”
“Sid Meier’s Civilization” is a strategy video game series by Maryland-based developer Firaxis Games that has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, per its publisher, 2K Games.
Zuckerberg has previously spoken of his love for the game. At his 2017 commencement speech at Harvard University, he said he got his college offer letter while playing “Civilization.”
Zuckerberg’s comment comes amid his attempts to refresh his public image with a more laid-back personality and fashion style.
In his interview with Pubity, Zuckerberg was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Zuck or nothing” in Latin, a sharp break from his usual uniform of gray t-shirts from yesteryears.
Zuckerberg’s namedropping also stands to be a major boon for Firaxis Games, which recently launched a major marketing campaign for its upcoming seventh main “Civilization” game, which is set to be released on February 11, 2025.
One “Civilization” streamer, Potato McWhiskey, is already jockeying to be the gamer that Zuckerberg might stream with.
“I challenge you, Mark Zuckerberg, to a 1v1 duel in Civilization,” he said in a Wednesday video published on his YouTube channel, which has 480,000 subscribers.
“See you in the arena, Zuckerberg,” the official “Civilization” YouTube account commented.
Some public figures have sought to use video games and Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, to win over younger audiences.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was featured on a “World of Warcraft” Twitch stream.
The move by Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, appears to be part of the Democratic campaign’s outreach to younger voters.
Zuckerberg hasn’t set a date for an appearance on the Bezos-backed Twitch. But it’s noteworthy that Meta’s Facebook already has its own video-game streaming platform, Facebook Gaming.
“Not even Mark Zuckerberg wants to stream on Facebook,” said a top comment on Pubity’s TikTok.
Facebook launched Facebook Gaming in 2020, but the Twitch competitor didn’t make a big splash.
In October 2022, the company removed the iOS and Android apps for Facebook Gaming, though the service could still be accessed via the main Facebook app.
Representatives for Zuckerberg at Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
