The original release date for XCOM 2 wasn’t actually a date at all, but rather, 2K was saying the game would come out in November of this year. Now, we have a more finalized release date for the game, which sounds like good news on the surface, but sadly, that release date is no longer in 2015. Instead, the game has been pushed back to February 5, 2016.
The XCOM 2 Dev Team took to its official website to announce the change in release date, saying that they’ve “set a high bar for the sequel and the entire team has been working hard to make sure we deliver a great follow-up to Enemy Unknown. We just need a little more time to make it the best possible game.”
XCOM 2 promises more depth, replayability, and investment in the player’s soldiers, and the team says that the extension will give them the time they need to make all of that happen. Of course, the dev team also emphasizes that it appreciates players’ patience as they work on the game.
In the end, while it’s disappointing for people who loved Enemy Unknown and are eager more from the tactical strategy franchise, in a world where incomplete games seem to be released all the time, it’s definitely better to see the team push the game back in favor of releasing a quality title that’s actually done. A few extra months of tweaks and polish in the development cycle can certainly make a big difference in the finished product.
For those uninitiated into the XCOM franchise, Enemy Unknown was a tactical turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games, the same people responsible for the beloved Civilization franchise. Hostile aliens have shown up on Earth, and you are tasked with running the internationally-funded strike force that must defend against them. It was a reimagining of the classic game X-COM: UFO Defense from the 90s. It’s known for having a high level of challenge on higher difficulties, with soldiers in which the player has invested a lot of time leveling up dying permanently when falling in the field, requiring a lot of thought for each action and decision in battle. XCOM 2 starts with the interesting premise that humanity lost in Enemy Unknown, and now must retake the planet from its alien overlords as a mobile, guerrilla resistance.
