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XCOM 2 (PC/Mac/Linux, Firaxis, November 2015) announced [Up: New info/screens in OP]

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cripterion

Member
It's coming in november? WOW! I'm a bit shocked, usually these games are announced like 1 year in advance! And then PC version has to wait months/years after the console version is released.

I'm very pleasantly surprised. Day 1 buy, I really, really liked XCOM and EU.

That's the way to do announcements imo. Not announce/tease/show something for 2-3 years and seeing the game gradually change from what it was.
 
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.
 
PC exclusive makes no sense. Even if it didn't do great last time round, this time the incremental cost of porting to PS4/XB1 should be much less than with PS3. Almost insane not to port, unless for some reason it absolutely requires a mouse and keyboard?

Or they're still in negotiations?

It's possible that they think that doing their outmost to create a PC title with the long tail sales of the Civ games is more lucrative then the potential console sales.
 

Nzyme32

Member
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.

Oh boy!
 
PC exclusive makes no sense. Even if it didn't do great last time round,
You answered that yourself why it does make sense with those 2 lines. Even if porting it up is cheaper, you have no guarantee that it will perform better on newer consoles. What negotiations? You think 2K is forcing them to make a PC exclusive game? They said they are making it so it is made to use the strengths of PC, probably with a better UI to boot.
 
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.
I'm dying of happiness
Better than my birthday for sure
 
PC gamer here, I don't think xcom eu had anything hold it back going consoles/iPad ?

Maybe they will do a port later like wasteland 2, and divinity os?
 

Oppo

Member
Mod support.

And I'm sure there are other reasons as well.

Well to be fair consoles have done mod support before. Unreal Tournament on PS3 did it.

I get why they are doing this but I think they just want to lead with PC.. other versions will almost certainly come down the line.

for controllers: I played XCOM EU/EW with a mouse on PC, I didn't really see the problem...
 

Skab

Member
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.

oh my :O
 

AHA-Lambda

Member
It's possible that they think that doing their outmost to create a PC title with the long tail sales of the Civ games is more lucrative then the potential console sales.

I'd put money on this, I doubt XCOM on consoles sold very well tbh, and this is when we're with new consoles with much lower install bases than the 360/PS3 when EU came out.
 

Fjordson

Member
Bummer. I enjoyed Enemy Unknown on 360.

Gotta respect Firaxis' decision, though. I'm sure it'll be a quality game for the PC crowd.
 

Swarna

Member
Everything else aside, if you just look at 2.6 million vs. <200k sales it makes sense to release this on PC first with none of the usual cross-platform jank and then potentially re-tool the game for a re-release elsewhere like many other games do.

The last game in particular had a shitty mouse and keyboard interface even though most of the user base was likely using it over controllers.
 
I didnt read the PR - what is this doing that consoles can't?

Being a PC game. Which entails a lot more than just being able to run on a platform's hardware. The expectations of what PC gamers value in their games vs. what console gamers value in their games is diverging at a dramatic rate.
 

SparkTR

Member
Well to be fair consoles have done mod support before. Unreal Tournament on PS3 did it.

UT3 on PS3 had so many restrictions, it was more like a model/skin transfer service as opposed to a definite modding solution. The most interesting thing that came out of it was finally being able to play as the Master Chief on a Sony platform.
 

Kid Ska

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.
Oh sweet baby Jesus
 
I really don't think that is the angle they are going for. They just want XCOM2 to be as popular and longlasting as Civ 5 is on its workshop. If you want to see where paid mods will start, look towards the next big Bethesda game.

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what they plan on doing with mods.

On another note I hope dropping consoles doesn't mean controller support is also getting the axe as well. At least the Steam controller should be out by then so not all hope is lost.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
More screens, most of which look better than the IGN one:

02_x2_screens_media.jpg


01_x2_screens_media.jpg


03_x2_screens_media.jpg


04_x2_screens_media.jpg


05_x2_screens_media.jpg


07_x2_screens_overview_thm.jpg


08_x2_screens_overview_thm.jpg
 

Chairman Yang

if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
Glorious. Remember the situation like 5 years ago when it seemed like XCOM and most turn-based gaming was dead, and the best we could hope for was a bastardized third-person shooter with a few callbacks to the old XCOM?

It's crazy how much the industry has changed. I literally can't keep up with the sheer number of amazing turn-based strategy games being released.

The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
    [*]"Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.
Stealth would be an excellent and thematic addition to XCOM; hopefully they take some cues from Invisible Inc.
 

RM8

Member
PC brahs, if I loved EU/EW, what other strategy games would you recommend? For some reason Civ doesn't look like my kind of game.
 

That's very good to hear. Thanks for posting it!

Gotta say, the general reaction to PC exclusivity by some people is markedly more bitter than I ever would've guessed. Given what they're adding (below) the sacrifice will be more than worth it, delivering a more XCOM: UFO Defense-y game than would be possible otherwise. And mods! Praise mods.

That said, I half expect a console port a year or two down the road, when the install bases have grown more and an expansion or two are out. Building for PC first will solve a lot of development- and direction-related problems in regards to their planned featureset.
The XCOM website has been updated and has some other small details:

  • The mobile base is called "The Avenger" and is a converted alien ship.
  • There are five classes now — I'm guessing "Ranger" is the new one. They mention "Momentum" as a new class ability.
  • "The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment."
  • "Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols." (YES.)
  • "Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts."
  • You can save fallen soldiers by carrying them to the extraction. (YES.)
  • "There are virtually infinite combinations of map, missions and goals." (YESYESYES.)
  • Also confirms head-to-head multiplayer on generated maps.
aP9m9ya.gif
 

bryehn

Member
I'm going with timed PC exclusive for the holiday based on the wording. No way they'd pass up the console market that supported the last 2 and is itching for a strategy game. Plus tablets.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
...umm, you can easily use a mouse and keyboard on consoles with an adapter.



Modding is the obvious answer.

just don't have mods on console. Doesn't make it a reason to not bring the basic game to console.

Only thing that makes sense for me is that they are maybe going a little more deep with the UI that requires mouse/keyboard. The fact that you might be able to use a keyboard on a PS4 (don't think you can on XB1) doesn't mean anything - you can't realistically require that for a console release, you could only add it as an optional input.

Otherwise why wouldn't you want it on every platform possible for maximum return?
 
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