devtrackers.gg
I think this is more of a general oopsie.They are currently working on Live, which is a timer setting that scales the amount of time you have with unit/city count. This gives a better fast-paced gameplay than 5-minute did since 5 minute was way too long at the start and became very cramped near the late-game.It was originally included in the Diplomacy beta, where it replaced the 5-minute timer but the ultimately decided to delay it a bit while they published Diplomacy. So... My guess is that in temporarily removing it, they just removed the entire thing and didn't add 5-minutes back in.
This is the right answer! Good job!
Do you have any general idea as to when the live timer may be released? Loved that part of the beta!
We're still working on it
Is that why the replays also got removed? Also, could we get replays for pass and play games when they return?
Yes, they'll come back, but aren't done yet.
No, as the replays can only work on games that are on the server - i.e. standard multiplayer games.
Is it possible to play a game with friends locally via their own phones and offline?
No