XCOM 2 Officially Announced; First 1080p Screenshots Revealed

As teased in the past few days with the Advent site, today 2K Games officially announced with a press release XCOM 2, sequel to the critically acclaimed XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

[MrSwankSinatra]

First Bravely Second localization and now this? Christmas came early.

[Mankey]

2012's Xcom: Enemy Unkown was supremely good. As in top ten 10 best games of 2012 good.

Yet, it still had a a bunch of things missing that were in the original, but were cut here for time or resources. With this sequel hopefully they will get to add in a few more of those classic Xcom features such as; Grenade customization, ammo customization, and creating targeted bio weapons. (Anybody remember the first time you ran into an alien with a shield generator?, good times)

Hopefully we can see the squads bumped to 8 or 6 man squads as well and with any luck they will implement base attacks as well as all the other features that were stripped.

Regardless, Xcom: Enemy Unkown was one of the very few titles that managed to reboot a franchise, work as a sequel and stand alone as an excellent title. Very curious to see all the new stuff they come up with and what they will do with this title.

Side note: (anyone else think its funny they are calling it Xcom 2? Its not really the second title, lol)

[Scarfy]

I'm completely in the minority here, but I didn't care for the remake. It was too dumbed down for my liking. I basically wanted the original game with a lot of 3D polish.

I mean, one Skyranger, one base? Come on!

[Takwin]

It was top 10 games of the last few years for me. Stunningly good reboot and established as a force in the turn-based strategy genre. The only game that trule gives it competition is Fire Emblem, as Heroes of Might and Magic has gone done the Ubisoft rabbit hole.

(I count Civ, Gal Civ, and Endless Legend as more grand TBS, a different beast entirely.)

[InTheZoneAC]

Did you play enemy within?

[SolidStoner]

great news indeed, xcom was one of my favorites last gen.. cant wait to try this one out! unique experience!

EDIT: I didnt play original one, sadly, so sorry for those who wait for more complex and mature games..

but considering that people get more stupid, so do games.. its our fault really!

[livininsin]

For those that haven't seen it yet, the teaser trailer is awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[lelo2play]

XCOM 2 is automatically one my most expected games of the year.

BTW, PC exclusive? For me doesn't matter, since I intent to play it on the PC, but for console only gamers...

[CorndogBurglar]

No where in the press release does it say its PC Exclusive. It said PC is all that was announced.

There is a big difference.

[TheColbertinator]

PC exclusive means the new Xcom will receive proper treatment and fine tuning

[Abriael]

When I saw the press release about that I was really surprised. With Civilization and this, 2K still loves PC exclusives it seems.

[freshslicepizza]

they control better on the pc but i wouldn't be surprised to see console versions down the road. i really enjoyed the last one

[Gilgamesh15]

So will it be exclusive for good?

[Abriael]

We don't know. For now it's only announced for PC with a port for Linux and Max developer by another studio. No console announced, which doesn't mean it'll never come.

[Mankey]

I actually enjoyed Xcom: Enemy Unknown on both PC and PS3. I would hope they would eventually release it on console as the PS3 port was actually quite well and the more people who get to experience the game the better.

Obviously the PC's functionality was superior, (faster reaction time, more customization etc) but I have no issue with more gamers getting to play this so long as the core experience is not "dumbed down."

[ravencry]

Yes It's confirmed http://www.ign.com/articles...

Qoute "And later this week we’ll go in-depth with Solomon and DeAngelis on the reasons behind the bold move to take XCOM from a multiplatform series to a PC exclusive, and how XCOM 2 will be tailored to take advantage of that single platform’s strengths – followed by Firaxis’ exciting plans to support modders and their work."

[-Alpha]

Pretty bold move to make it PC exclusive, but I am expecting them to really cater to the strengths of the genre on PC. So excited!

[bananaboats]

No it doesnt. it can still come out broken.

Either way Im looking forward to this. Xcom was very fun game to play.

[ravencry]

LOL Consoles sold only 114k but PC has sold more than 2.7million digital. So more profits from PC version.

http://steamspy.com/app/200...

Even Physical version has more sales on PC.

PC - 0.64m
Xbox 360 - 0.60m
ps3 - 0.51m

http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

[TricksterArrow]

VG Chartz has a tendency of undertracking games. Particularly old ones. If the sales were this abysmal, they wouldn't have bothered to release Enemy Within nor Declassified for consoles. Just saying.

[ravencry]

@TricksterArrow maybe it didn't sell well to invest in consoles or we will see this on consoles after PC.

Edit: I think it's confirmed exclusive

[aLucidMind]

I honestly have to wonder if it did so poorly on the consoles due to the fact it came out pretty close to CoD and Assassin's Creed, which typically sell better on console than PC. Obviously PC being better with strategy games is a factor, too; I'm just thinking that the time of release may have hurt their chances on consoles.

[blackblades]

Doubt it's exclusive it will most likely be ported later. If it were exclusive they would of said so.

[Palitera]

It also means that they will spend little money on it.

[gamer9]

No matter what the devs say I’m guessing it will come to consoles. The control scheme was fantastic on last gen console. The new consoles can run this game, it’s not a graphical powerhouse.

[Takwin]

PROCEDURAL LEVELS AND MOD SUPPORT.

*drops mic*

[ZaWarudo]

PC exclusive?

:<

[Der_Kommandant]

I feel your pain :'(

[aquamala]

wow PC exclusive. I love the reboot but it was clearly scaled down for console players with only one base and only 6? players squads, and less variety of weapons/aliens, hopefully this means Xcom 2 would be more like the originals

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I think it was scaled down more due to hardware limitations of the older consoles vs "for console players".

[gamer9]

There's no reason next gen can't have all of those features. Lets all remember that Borderlands Pre Sequel and Dark Souls 2 were never ever coming to next gen console. Look how that turned out.

[MilkMan]

IS this a third person/ stealth/ action/ squad based/ resource management game?
Looks like it.
Either way, looks fantastic. Ill pick it up twice. Once on PC then again on consoles.

[Abriael]

No action. It's turn based strategy

[Seafort]

It's been confirmed as PC exclusive so no you won't pick it up twice unless you buy 2 copies of PC version as it ain't coming to consoles.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Likely coming to consoles down the line.

@Seafort....wouldn't be the first time something was stated about PC then ported to console. (or vice versa really)

I take what a publisher says regarding that a grain of salt.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Excited its coming sad its only PC it seems. Poor choice on Fraxis's & 2K's part.

[Seafort]

Civilization series does pretty well as a PC exclusive. It's just going back to it's original platform as an exclusive.

What's great about this is no one bought the rights to the exclusivity like they do on consoles. The developers chose to be exclusive to PC and I will support that decision by buying XCOM 2 like I did with XCOM.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

No, I hear you. I just felt Xcom was a game that had a great UI and control scheme on console but was clearly limited by the aging machines. I also felt it was a massive mistake for 2K to release that game as a disc based version. It added to the costs and its $60 original price point was a tough sell to console gamers but ...it was a good game and well received critically on console. Across the board it struggled with retail disc sales but digitally on store fronts like Steam it hit a stride with its reduced costs and frequent sales offerings.

I just think they could this go round (assuming they are keeping to similar control scheme) port to consoles for a digital only release and a better day one price.

[MilkMan]

This is a bizarre decision. This day and age, consoles pay the bills. This is obviously a big game. I'm sure this will come to consoles. There just isn't money in the PC "alone" market any more. This has been true for a couple of decades now.

[Seafort]

@MilkMan Well Civilization series does pretty well as a PC exclusive.

The notion that there isn't money in PC as the sole platform is complete bullshit.

The PC platform has many more exclusives than the console combined. They just don't have a multi million dollar marketing campaign behind them like the AAA console games do so go unnoticed by the mainstream games media.

You do realise that XCOM on console sold abysmally and this is one of the reasons why it's going PC exclusive this time. You want games like XCOM to stay on the consoles you support them if not you have no reason to bitch and moan when it doesn't anymore.

[gamer9]

Yes there is money in PC only. Yes it would be a bonehead move to leave console money on the table when the power and controls are already there. Console release next year.

[livininsin]

I'm really not surprised to see this going pc exclusive, turn based strategy, real-time strategy, 4X strategy... These are all bread and butter genres for pc but there's a reason things are that way. The X-Com reboot was really well done but you can't shake the fact that it was on the strategy-lite side of things. Deep strategy games go hand in hand with really complex user interfaces and really complex user interfaces are, frankly, downright cumbersome to navigate with a controller. Heck, even mouse and keyboard can get tedious when things really start getting thick.

[Ethereal]

Damn, was hoping for a console release...

[_-EDMIX-_]

who says their won't be down the line? Ports are cheap and can easily be done. All this really says is no day and date release with PS4 and XONE.

PC has no owner, its open source, they have no ode to some publisher or maker to never put it on console and I doubt it means FOREVER as that is just odd lol.

No worries, likely will be on console in a year after release but likely ported by a different team. I have no doubt that it will be on PS4 and XONE at a later date as many titles are going PC to console, 2K would pretty much be losing money not porting it to PS4 and XONE and I really don't see them NEVER doing that.

[Aggesan]

I bet u a console announcement on E3.

[Ocsta]

Thank you God! Between this and Fallout 4 my life is complete!!!

[BlackTar187]

This Fallout hopes of a Dark Souls 3 announcement and MGS i'm set for the foreseeable future.

Sprinkle in some RDR and i'll die happy

[AlokTheDemon]

OMG I'm playing XCOM enemy unknown right now and this news made my day

[lemoncake]

Microsoft needs to do pc to Xbox streaming, last one by firaxis played great with a controller so sure this one will be same. So many good pc games.

[Pixelart]

Heard of using a HDMI cable and plugging your controller into your PC. I know.. It's a revolutionary idea.. Playing PC games on a TV.. Geez.. What next.

[WizzroSupreme]

Guess it really had been a while since Enemy Unknown, as we all know that Declassified was best left forgotten. Hope this lives up to the name.

[scark92]

Is that Stealth mechanics I see!?! :D

[Bolts]

It will eventually come out for consoles and tablets I'm sure.

[Pintheshadows]

I would much rather play this on a PC than a console anyway. This genre belongs on PC. They can just do more with it than you can with the limitations of a controller.

And lets face it, if you are serious about this genre, or any strategy genre, you have a PC.

[Malacath]

Have to disagree there. Some of my favourite strategy games of all time have been on console.

The original xcom:Enemy unknown or UFO defence as I think it was called in America came the ps1. Loved the game even with the horrible clunky ps1 controls.

And yes I did buy the game on PC as well but enjoyed it on ps1 more.

I just don't like mouse/keyboard controls.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

Finally another XCOM this is going to so good :D

http://relax1corner.com/wp-...

BTW I'm PC Gamer and i say NO to damn exclusive they are ruining gaming industry specially for those that cant afford multiple platforms :[ I truly hope that exclusive era is coming to an end... LET THE GAMERS PLAY !!!

I always wanted to play God of War, Uncharted and Halo series :(

[zen_hydra]

What are the chances this game will have officially sanctioned mod support?

That was one of the elements I felt was most lacking in EU/EW. I put about 400 hours into those, and not being able to add new assets meant the maps and enemies were getting pretty stale for me towards the end.

[slappy508]

I need to get Enemy Unknown from Steam to see what the fuss is all about

[Malacath]

I got excited reading the headline then I noticed it appears to be PC only.

Disappointed now.

I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that it will come to console one day

[2pacalypsenow]

NIce!! now i gotta go finish the first one , the last few levels are tough

[Maxor]

YEEEEESSS!! The best tactical squad game ever returns. I can't wait.

[DIPSET]

1080p is sooo 2010 :)

[LoveSpuds]

Extremely disappointed that this is not releasing to consoles. I loved the reboot, I played it on PC before replaying it on PS3 when it was available through PS+.

It played really well on PS3 and I enjoyed it more 2nd time around as I prefer gaming on console.

I have to imagine it will see a release on other platforms later on, it makes no sense otherwise. I will wait em out an pick it up at a later time.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Not concerned, i actually enjoyed The Bureau with it's mix of real time and turn based better. I know i'm in the minorty but i liked xcom the bureau and i thought the main character was Robert Patrick for the longest...

[Bolts]

I enjoyed The Bureau too. It's a pretty good game.

[IamTylerDurden1]

I platinumed the Bureau, i prefer real time and turn based to be mixed like Transistor did it perfectly, platinumed Transistor as well.

[edqe]

Console gamers usually says that exclusives are important to have and "a great thing" so I guess they don't mind if they are not able to play this game.

I don't like exclusives unless there are technical or financial issues behind them.