Mark Zuckerberg reckons he's a Civilization 'grandmaster' who could beat 'anyone in the world,' and we should all brace ourselves for his Twitch career

In what I can only assume is part of his ongoing but undeclared rebrand as an actual human being, Meta and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says he will absolutely annihilate you at Civilization. Actually, he says he'll annihilate anybody at Civilization, declaring himself "close to grandmaster status" in the game in an act of hubris rivalled only by the protagonists of Greek myth.

"I'd be surprised if anyone in the world could beat me at that," Zuck told Pubity (via Dexerto), wearing his "Aut Zuck aut nihil" (All Zuck or all nothing) T-shirt that seems to be the only thing he's allowed to wear in 2024.

But which Civ? Zuck doesn't say which precise iteration of Sid Meier's opus is his favourite, but there's evidence a cunning detective like myself can use to piece together an answer. And by "evidence," I mean a literal photo of Zuckerberg playing a game which is clearly Civ 5 on a laptop.

He could have moved onto 6 since that was taken, of course, but I'm pretty certain it's a universal human experience to pick one particular entry in the series (mine is 4) and stick with it stubbornly forever.

Anyway, brace yourself for the multi-billionaire to start soliciting Twitch subs. "I think at some point I should do a Twitch stream of me playing with someone," he says. That is, if anyone dares face up to him. With a little bit of braggadocio, Zuckerberg told his interviewer that his wife—Priscilla Chan—once took a look at his Steam account and was flabbergasted to learn he had over a thousand hours in a game (which he doesn't specify, but which I'm gonna assume is Civ).

Which… we're all friends here, right? This is a judgement-free space? Those are kind of rookie numbers, aren't they? There are PCG staff members with playtimes that make 1,000 hours look downright brisk. I reckon if Zuckerberg ever did throw down the gauntlet to a true Civ sicko, he might learn he's a lot further from grandmaster status than he thinks.