There's a reason you can hear someone coughing on Civ 7's Age Transition screen"During an Age Transition, players might hear strange noises," 2K acknowledges.Image credit: 2K / Eurogamer News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Feb. 7, 2025 Civilization 7 players say they can hear coughing and grunting while browsing the game's Age Transition screen - and now publisher 2K has acknowledged the issue. A lengthy reddit thread discussing the problem includes examples of strange audio clips that players have recorded - and yes, you can clearly hear something going on in the background, behind the Age Transition menu's soaring orchestral music. "I thought maybe I'd left a stream on or was somehow in a Discord call," one player reported, "but I double-checked and no. You can really hear a person clearing their throat and coughing throughout the music. I'm not sure how this is even possible but it's kind of hilarious if you ask me."Other examples uploaded to YouTube include snippets of characters grunting, or the sounds of swordfighting.Watch on YouTubeBut rather than the game's actual music track being taped over by someone with a sore throat, 2K has said a more benign reason is likely to blame."During an Age Transition, players might hear strange noises," a 2K spokesperson confirmed, in a post on the official Civilization support site. "This is likely due to the audio from the Main Menu being played over Age Transition screens."This means you may hear short voice lines, shuffling around, and general idle noises while on the Age Transition menu."Other players report hearing audio from the leader they're playing as looping in the background, including mumbling and clothes rustling.Earlier today, Firaxis issued a blog post acknowledging Civilization 7's mixed response from players so far, and pledging a raft of updates designed to address key community-requested changes and features. These will include improvements to UI interactions and map readability, as well as adding Teams to multiplayer games and adding in hotseat multiplayer.Eurogamer's Civilization 7 review described it as "a competent entry with some poorly executed ideas and a striking lack of personality".