Sid Meier has just declared war on workplace productivity. At the Civfanatics forum, the creator of the revered strategy-game series has announced that Civilization Network will be appearing on Facebook at some point next year.

Details are scarce, but Meier describes the free-to-play CivNet (what I'm calling it, feel free to run with that) as a highly collaborative version of the game:

Civilization Network will allow you to join together with your friends to create the world’s most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization. You can coordinate your strategy to win great battles, share your technology to jump ahead of your rivals, lobby your family and friends to form your own government and win vital elections, manage and grow your cities to maximize production and happiness, spy on your enemies, and work with your friends to create the great Wonders of the World. The game will offer everything you enjoy in Civ in a fully persistent environment - you can play as much as you like, whenever you like, and it’ll be free to play.

The free-to-play part is curious, as a large number of social games on Facebook offer the base game free of charge, but make up their development costs through the sale of premium items. Are we in for "Discover Archery for $5!" or everybody in your Civ group pitching in a couple bucks for a nuke? I'll be keeping my eye on the official Facebook group for updates.

But aside from that...we had a treaty, Sid. I would stay up until 4AM playing your games at home, and you would leave me alone at work. Rest assured, my advisors and I are determining our next course of action.