How to change any in-game Music (MainMenu ect...)

Hello 🙂
After spending way too much time debugging this, I finally managed to get custom music working properly in Civilization VI, so I decided to make a proper up-to-date guide.

This method works in 2026.

---

• Civilization VI
  
• A .wav file of the song/music you want to use
  
• Wwise v2015.1.9 build 5624

You MUST use an OLD version of Wwise.

Newer versions (2021+ / 2024+ / 2025+) generate .wem files that Civilization VI silently refuses to play.

Symptoms:

• Game launches normally
  
• Music becomes completely silent
  
• No crash
  
• No errors

This happens because Civ6 was built using an old Wwise audio pipeline.

---

Navigate to:
Open:
Search for the sound you want to replace.

For example, Main Menu music looks like this:

Write down the File ID.

For Main Menu music:

You will later rename your generated .wem file to this ID.

---

I also strongly recommend installing:

foobar2000

together with a plugin capable of playing .wem files.

This makes identifying sounds from Music_Bank.xml MUCH easier, because sometimes the XML entries are not very descriptive and you may not know what sound/music track a specific File ID actually belongs to.

With foobar2000 you can simply preview the original .wem files directly and quickly identify the correct sound before replacing it.

---

Your replacement audio MUST be:

• .wav format
  
• Stereo recommended
  
• 48kHz recommended

You can use any audio converter/editor you want.

---

Download:

Wwise v2015.1.9 build 5624[www.audiokinetic.com]

The old ONLINE installer no longer works because it uses obsolete SSL/TLS communication.

You MUST use the OFFLINE installation packages.

Scroll to the bottom of the download page and use:

Offline Setup for Windows

Install these packages:

• Authoring_x64.msi (or Win32)
  
• Authoring_Data.msi
  
• Common.msi
  
• VC2013 Redistributable

After installation launch:
Ignore/close the license popup window.

---

Name it however you want.
Go to:
Add your .wav file and import it.
Navigate to:
Click on your imported audio file.
In the center panel open:
Click the double-arrow button next to:
Then navigate to:

Go to:
Click OK.

---

Go to:
Right click any file and choose:
Navigate to:
Your generated .wem file should be there.

---

Rename your generated .wem file to the File ID from Music_Bank.xml.

Example:

Then copy it into:
Replace the original file.
Always backup original game files first.

---

Launch Civilization VI and your custom music should now play correctly.

Hopefully this guide saves someone else a few hours of pain 😄