Firaxis Games has announced that XCOM 2, the sequel to the popular turn-based action-strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, is scheduled for release on November but will only be available on PC (Windows, Mac OS and Linux).
The news surprised fans and gaming fanatics alike, considering that XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within first came out on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Since then, the game has also been exported to both the iOS and Android platforms.
According to IGN, the focus on PC was the only way that Creative Director Jake Solomon and his team could make the XCOM 2 they envisioned. "When we looked at what we wanted to do with the sequel, we had all these very, very ambitious goals," said Solomon. Part of the team's checklist were high-fidelity characters and environments, better-looking destruction, physically based rendering, and procedurally generated maps that Solomon wanted to do for Enemy Unknown but couldn't. And in order to do all those, Firaxis needed to use all their PC expertise - something that they're quite good at and very comfortable with.
Even Lead Producer Garth DeAngelis mentioned how focusing on PC made a lot of sense given the relatively small team they have for the complex customizations that is needed for the game. XCOM 2 runs on a heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 3.5 and it's much simpler to design and work on one platform than having to scale the game assets from PC to other consoles.
Still, the XCOM sequel is an exciting addition to the game's franchise since it provides gamers options to customize soldiers along with the addition of procedurally-generated levels that's sure to liven things up. The best news is that Firaxis want XCOM 2 to provide "much deeper" modding support from the get go. "Create custom mods." states the official website. "Community-focused tools allow you to create your own campaign, tactical gameplay, aliens, classes, strategy game features, and share within the Steam Workshop."
Moving XCOM 2 to a PC exclusive game category is an ambitious step for the series and for game developer Firaxis. Let's hope this sequel will be popular to PC gamers when it releases via Steam on November.
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