GameIndustry.eu / Reviews / Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI

Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI

Publisher: 2K
Released: 2016
Steam ID: 289070
Genre: 4X
System:
Hosts entries: Details

Review by: Pengin | 16.02.2019

Civilization VI is the newest installment in the award winning Civilization Franchise. Expand your empire, advance your culture and go head-to-head against history’s greatest leaders. Will your civilization stand the test of time?

Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI Review

In relation to the self legitimated rights and the use of the product "Civilization VI from 2K"

Anmerkung:
Das Review ist eins der wenigen englischen Reviews von mir. Es wurde im Vorraus in englischer Sprache verfasst und Infos wurden mitunter im spieleigenen Forenbereich des Steamforums gepostet. Texte wurden für diese Seite übernommen, zusammengefasst und mit weiteren Querverweisen versehen.

Tested/updated the product just now (again) and I checked what's in the title. So the review is hopefully a help for the purchase decision, or in the existing handling and is and gives back my impression as a customer...

Topic related (linked discussion) i want to show whats really in here. So i would say spyware, some would call it different but a bit is in here. Doesn't matter how and what.

The main language of this review is "penglish"...half penguin, half english. So forgive me for mistakes ;]

By using this product, 2K grants itself some strange rights (in a subsequently modified Eula) (external link) towards the customers. Or as alternative read the german version (external link). Interesting here is the part with "INFORMATION COLLECTION & USAGE". Such contracts are valid from a minimum age of 13 years.

The review is showing incoming and outgoing connections which are active in the background during the gamesession. Made the same entry in the discussion forum (external link) but it's easier to see here. Also a discussion based on it there. Together with a few extracts from logs. Maybe interesting, maybe not.

Involved files:

LaunchPad.exe, FiraxisBugReporter.exe, CivilizationVI.exe, CivilizationVI_DX12.exe

Blocklist entries and summary

The summary of all connections is available via host files or search result

Repetive heartbeat and analytics

POST https://34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com/sso/v2.0/presence/heartbeats HTTP/1.1

Host: 34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com

User-Agent: 2K Coretech Client 4.0-pre (e1404d89b003453e915ab6b9afaafc15)

Content-Type: application/json

Authorization: Bearer

[Including Pid, SID, language, _GID and some other infos]

Connection: Keep-Alive

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate

Accept-Language: de-DE,en,*



[{"eventId":"25d110eba42e4905b1e024eec5a829f9", "name" : "LauncherSessionSummaryEvent","sequenceNumber":1, "occurredOn":1550330787, "priority":1, "eventData":{"ClickedElements":"Play","LaunchType":"Normal","LauncherSessionId":"294594e765d442d6a451e9f53008defb","OwnedEntitlements":"8930,289070","TimeInLauncher":"1298117"}}]

Google Tagmanager

A manager for analytics, other Google Services and crossover connections to third party analytics and spyware.
I created an own seperate section for Google Tagmanager to explain a bit.

GET https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-128058325-2 HTTP/1.1

Host: www.googletagmanager.com

Connection: keep-alive

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWebEngine/5.11.1 Chrome/65.0.3325.230 Safari/537.36

Accept: */*

Referer: https://2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/products/civ6/web/index.html?type=newsfeed&launcherSessionId=294594e765d442d6a451e9f53008defb&locale=de-DE&luid=2d6ef8e1888395fbc25eb49fd0049721f6b022c39bda7603e65b99f1bfac19fe&segment=2

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

    <meta charset="utf-8">

    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">

    <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo=">

    <title>2k/Launcher</title>

    <script src="https://use.typekit.net/xot6nio.js" async=""></script>



    <!-- version: 642e4_2019-02-09T00:11:22.077Z -->



    <style type="text/css">

        html, body {

            height: 100%;

            margin: 0;

            padding: 0;

            background: transparent !important;

            background-color: transparent !important;

        }

    </style>

    <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

    <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-128058325-2"></script>

    <script>

        window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];

        function gtag() {

            dataLayer.push(arguments);

        }

        gtag('js', new Date());



        // this is being consumed by App for Google Analytics

        window.GA_TRACKING_ID = 'UA-128058325-2'

    </script>

</head>

<body>



<div id='launcher-app-root'></div>



<script src="2k.launcher.min.js"></script>



</body>

</html>

Else another 2 examples from launchpad.exe

2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/products/civ6/web/2k.launcher.min.js

or

https://2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/products/civ6/web/index.html?type=newsfeed&launcherSessionId=294594e765d442d6a451e9f53008defb&locale=de-DE&luid=2d6ef8e1888395fbc25eb49fd0049721f6b022c39bda7603e65b99f1bfac19fe&segment=2

A newsfeed is fetched, mixed with Google Analytics

GET http://2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/assets/civilization/civvi_upsell_banner_CIV6_RISEFALL_LOGO_BUTTON.jpg HTTP/1.1

Host: 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online

Connection: keep-alive

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWebEngine/5.11.1 Chrome/65.0.3325.230 Safari/537.36

Accept: image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate

This one is getting an image from server or better said advertising.

GET https://cdn.2kgames.com/civilization.com/2KGMKT_CivilizationVI-GS_Video_Thumbnail_First_Look_Canada.jpg HTTP/1.1

Host: cdn.2kgames.com

Connection: keep-alive

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWebEngine/5.11.1 Chrome/65.0.3325.230 Safari/537.36

Accept: image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8

Referer: https://2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/products/civ6/web/index.html?type=newsfeed&launcherSessionId=d917cd4c94574fc5aed1d7d47dd3c552&locale=de-DE&luid=2d6ef8e1888395fbc25eb49fd0049721f6b022c39bda7603e65b99f1bfac19fe&segment=2

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br

Even more advertising

GET https://p.typekit.net/p.gif?s=1&k=xot6nio&ht=tk&h=2klauncher.2kcoretech.online&f=10294.10302&a=5483504&js=1.19.2&app=typekit&e=js&_=1550329495169 HTTP/1.1

Host: p.typekit.net

Connection: keep-alive

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWebEngine/5.11.1 Chrome/65.0.3325.230 Safari/537.36

Accept: image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8

Referer: https://2klauncher.2kcoretech.online/products/civ6/web/index.html?type=newsfeed&launcherSessionId=294594e765d442d6a451e9f53008defb&locale=de-DE&luid=2d6ef8e1888395fbc25eb49fd0049721f6b022c39bda7603e65b99f1bfac19fe&segment=2

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br

Trackingpixel from Adobe

34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com(192.81.242.130)
login.firaxislive.com(34.206.125.89)
entitlements.api.2kcoretech.online(54.80.164.237)
34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com(192.81.242.131)

[02.16 16:43:43] CivilizationVI_DX12.exe *64 - 798ce2d1755b23f16c6b1100d73fa464.my.2k.com:443 open

[02.16 16:43:44] CivilizationVI_DX12.exe *64 - 798ce2d1755b23f16c6b1100d73fa464.my.2k.com:443 close, 1084 bytes (1.05 KB) sent, 4086 bytes (3.99 KB) received, lifetime 00:01

[02.16 16:43:45] CivilizationVI_DX12.exe *64 - 798ce2d1755b23f16c6b1100d73fa464.my.2k.com:443 open

[02.16 16:43:45] CivilizationVI_DX12.exe *64 - 798ce2d1755b23f16c6b1100d73fa464.my.2k.com:443 close, 1098 bytes (1.07 KB) sent, 7202 bytes (7.03 KB) received, lifetime <1 sec

[02.16 16:41:35] LaunchPad.exe *64 - d19mxcar6gop8d.cloudfront.net:443 open

[02.16 16:41:35] LaunchPad.exe *64 - d19mxcar6gop8d.cloudfront.net:443 open

[02.16 16:41:35] LaunchPad.exe *64 - discovery.api.2kcoretech.online:443 open

[02.16 16:41:35] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:80 open

[02.16 16:41:35] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:80 open

[02.16 16:41:36] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:80 open

[02.16 16:41:36] LaunchPad.exe *64 - d19mxcar6gop8d.cloudfront.net:443 open

[02.16 16:41:37] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:443 open

[02.16 16:41:37] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:443 open

[02.16 16:41:37] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online:443 open

[02.16 16:41:37] LaunchPad.exe *64 - telemetry.api.2kcoretech.online:443 open

[02.16 16:41:39] LaunchPad.exe *64 - www.googletagmanager.com:443 open

[02.16 16:41:39] LaunchPad.exe *64 - use.typekit.net:443 open

[02.16 16:41:39] LaunchPad.exe *64 - www.googletagmanager.com:443 open

[02.16 16:41:40] LaunchPad.exe *64 - use.typekit.net:443 open

[02.16 16:41:40] LaunchPad.exe *64 - 34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com:443 open

[02.16 16:41:40] LaunchPad.exe *64 - api.2kgames.com:443 open

[02.16 16:41:40] LaunchPad.exe *64 - api.2kgames.com:443 open

Criticism is welcome as far it's meant serious. Already changed a lot here because i was wrong in few things. But I won't let anyone insult me, nor let them talk into my opinion.

What's exactly in? - In and outgoing connections (with comments):

# [Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI]

# FiraxisBugReporter.exe

# 52.216.233.181, 52.216.166.5, 52.216.165.21

#0.0.0.0 s3.amazonaws.com # required for other stuff as well (websites and software)

# LaunchPad.exe

# Block: 180.213.167.255, 54.209.151.59, 52.72.178.179

0.0.0.0 2klauncher.2kcoretech.online # Graphics/advertising

0.0.0.0 cdn.2kgames.com # Graphics again/advertising

0.0.0.0 d19mxcar6gop8d.cloudfront.net

0.0.0.0 telemetry.api.2kcoretech.online

0.0.0.0 www.googletagmanager.com # ID: UA-128058325-2

#0.0.0.0 use.typekit.net # Fonts

0.0.0.0 p.typekit.net # Trackingpixel

#0.0.0.0 img.youtube.com # Youtube Graphics

0.0.0.0 downloads.2kgames.com # advertising

0.0.0.0 discovery.api.2kcoretech.online

0.0.0.0 entitlements.api.2kcoretech.online # 52.80.164.237

# CivilizationVI.exe, CivilizationVI_DX12.exe

# Block: 54.80.164.237

# 34.206.125.89 # Heroku (is a cloud platform as a service)

0.0.0.0 api.2kgames.com

# 52.45.227.34, 192.81.242.130, 192.81.242.131

# Onlinemode requires following stuff. Including self-updating heartbeat function (telemetry) with including several unique identifiers

#0.0.0.0 login.firaxislive.com

#0.0.0.0 508223012e5a5ff19f30a391b2bdadc0.my.2k.com # Active also in Mafia III

#0.0.0.0 798ce2d1755b23f16c6b1100d73fa464.my.2k.com # Active also in Mafia III

#0.0.0.0 34acf0414d836d3f8d491c6186153694.my.2k.com

Summary

The singleplayer mode doesn't need anything because the product runs flawless without all the stuff. As example analytics are already active in the launcher, before anyone reach the main game.

Only the onlinemode (login) requires the last four adresses which are bound with a telemetric heartbeat function. So users have only 2 choices. Use it or let it. But even they do not use the online mode, the software make some calls to home at irregular intervals.

Graphics and Youtube are for the visible launchercontent. And yes, even some downloaded graphics here are advertising. Or name them better "teaser graphics" for correctness?

The whole remaining rest in this product is unnecessary stuff like telemetry services (2K, Google, Amazon and Adobe), trackingpixel which are used to spy users or bloatware.

---
So everyone can see or not see what's in and installed/active. Play around with those values and do what you like.

To quote the EULA: "If you do not want your information used or shared in this manner, then you should not use the Software." or in other words a "grey" is not officially intended. In the case of subsequent changes, however, noone can longer speak of voluntariness.
---

One point to the end. 2K/2K Games often copy/pastes Eulas and use them in several products. So some informations they give are invalid from beginning. But that's for everyone to check out for themselves.

Rules for posting comments can be found in the F.A.Q.