Corporation

Corporations are one of the new gameplay elements added by Vox Populi. They can have a great impact on your empire's economic development, especially in the later part of a game. Corporations allow you cement your civilization's wealth and deliver powerful trade benefits to your civilization.

To establish a Corporation, you must secure a Global Monopoly on any of its required resources, and found its Corporation Headquarters. After your Corporation is established, you may construct Offices in your cities and use them to build Franchises in foreign cities via  Trade Routes.

## Founding a Corporation

There are seven distinct Corporations in the game, each of which becomes available once you have researched the Corporations Technology. Each Corporation has a specific set of Resource Monopolies that it relies upon - if you do not have at least one of these Resource Monopolies, you will not be able to found the Corporation. Once these two requirements are met, you need to construct the 'Headquarters' of the Corporation in one of your Cities. Furthermore, once you have founded a Corporation, you cannot found another one, so make sure you like the one you pick!

## Corporate Offices

Once you have founded your Corporation, you can begin establishing Corporate Offices in each of your Cities. These buildings come with special bonuses similar to your Corporation's Headquarters, and are thus worthwhile to construct on their own. Most bonuses from Corporations scale with the number of Cities you own, so larger empires benefit greatly from founding a Corporation and building as many Offices as possible!

Offices allow you to spread your Corporation through  Trade Routes. Each  Trade Route you establish from a city with an Office to a foreign city without your Corporation's Franchise will spread your Corporation's Franchise to that city at the completion of the  Trade Route. In addition to a base effect, each Office has a benefit that stacks based on the number of Franchises you've established in foreign cities. The more Offices you own in the empire, the faster your Corporation can spread. Spread your Corporation to enhance its benefit to your Civilization!

## Corporate Franchises

Franchises cannot be constructed in any city. Instead they are created after a  Trade Route from a city you own with an Office to a foreign city that does not already contain your Corporation's Franchise is completed. Franchises increase the Empire's overall Office benefit, so use them to strengthen your Corporation's effect. You can only build a maximum number of Franchises, determined by the size of the map, the number of  Trade Routes you can establish, and any bonuses from any Social Policies you have unlocked.

The highest number for franchises regardless of map size, numbers of trade routes, and bonuses from Social Policies is 25.

## Spreading a Corporation

Spreading your Corporation to foreign cities is an essential element of reaping the most benefit from your Corporation. As listed in the details of each Corporation, the spread of your Corporation to foreign cities has a direct impact on the productivity of your Corporate Offices. For every 'Franchise' of your Corporation in a foreign City, your Corporate Offices gain unique bonuses, be it additional City yields, free resources, or improved Trade Route yields. Furthermore, many Corporations gain additional bonuses if you send Trade Routes to foreign Cities that already have your Corporation in them. Make sure to study the details of your Corporation once you have founded it so that you can maximize your benefit in consideration of spreading your religion.

* Active Spread: Corporations actively spread their influence via owned Trade Routes, but only if the origin City (your City) has a Corporate Office in it. If your City has a Corporate Office, and you send a Trade Route from that City to a foreign City, a Corporate 'Franchise' will be built in that foreign City when the Trade Route completes. You can only spread your Corporation to each foreign City once, and you cannot have more Franchises than the maximum number of Trade Routes you can support.
* Passive Spread: Corporations passively spread their influence via foreign Trade Routes, but only if the destination City (your City) has a Corporate Office in it. If your City has a Corporate Office, and another player sends a Trade Route to that City from one of their Cities, a Corporate 'Franchise' will be built in the foreign City when their Trade Route completes. Your Corporation can only spread to each foreign City once.

## Destroying Corporations

When a city that has constructed a Corporation Headquarters is acquired or destroyed through any means by another civilization, that Corporation is immediately destroyed. All Offices and Franchises around the world are immediately closed, and the founding Civilization immediately loses all benefits from that Corporation. It is extremely important to protect your Corporation, as you will lose all of your progress in spreading that Corporation!

A destroyed Corporation immediately becomes available to be founded again by any civilization in the world. There is no restriction in the number of times a Corporation may be established in a game.