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Firaxis teases the 'real war' for 'XCOM 2' at this year's E3 PC Gaming Show

xcom 2 fireaxis e3 2017 screen 1
Image used with permission by copyright holder
XCOM 2 developer Firaxis has teased what could well be an expansion for the game — which we were big fans of — by tweeting out an image with the XCOM 2 title that reads “The Real War Begins.” It claims we will know more when it debuts whatever it is working on at the E3 PC Gaming Show starting at 10 a.m. (PT) on Monday.

XCOM 2 is one of the most well-received turn-based tactics games in the history of the genre and has seen a number of big DLC releases launched since its debut in early 2016. However, there has not been anything in the way of a big expansion, which is what many believe that this tweet is all about.

June 12 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST.

https://t.co/9LTRgZUs3i pic.twitter.com/UFkVfHgZ08

— XCOM (@XCOM) June 8, 2017

While we do not have much to go on, it will not be long until we know more. Since the Firaxis reveal is set to take place at 10 a.m. on Monday, XCOM 2‘s new content will debut near the start of it.

Although it is possible that this could be an endorsement of a big mod, as Firaxis has done previously with the Long War modification for the base game, Rock Paper Shotgun points out that XCOM 2‘s creative lead, Jake Solomon, will be in Los Angeles for E3. He would be unlikely to do so if this was merely a mod endorsement, so a new piece of official content, like an expansion, seems much more likely.

In terms of speculation about what such an expansion would be, if Firaxis’ history is anything to go by “the real war,” could be an augmented portion of the late game in XCOM 2. Enemy Within was the expansion for the original XCOM: Enemy Unknown and it added a number of gameplay elements, so we would expect something similar with whatever Firaxis is planning.

We will have to wait until the E3 show to find out for sure, though. Keep your eyes peeled.

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