2K Games and FIRAXIS have announced that Civilization 4 will be shipping in October, more or less confirming the early shipping time I told you about back in July. They've not narrowed down a more definite date, but when I hear of it, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

They've also announced a special pre-order edition of the game, which nabs you plenty of goodies.

Shipping on the same day as the regular version of the game, the Sid Meier's Civilization IV Pre-Order Edition will feature: collector's packaging, a CD soundtrack of the game, a keyboard template, a tech tree map and a spiral bound version of the manual. The Pre-Order Edition will be offered through participating retailers while supplies last.

Not too shabby. I can tell you this much, October is going to be a great month for world domination types. Not only will we have Civ IV, but Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion will be coming out, as well as Age of Empires 3.

A word of caution: right now there are a few "pre-orders" out there, but none of them seem to be aware of this special edition. I'd hold off on orders for the time being.