Strategy · February 4, 2016

XCOM® 2 (2016)

trophy88 achievementsextension7 DLClocal_offer-90% current discountgroup10M–100M ownerstrending_up3.1k peak concurrentrecommend76.8k recommendations
XCOM 2 is the sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown , the 2012 award-winning strategy game of the year. Earth has changed. Twenty years have passed since world leaders offered an unconditional surrender to alien forces. XCOM , the planet’s last line of defense, was left decimated and scattered. Now, in XCOM 2 , the aliens rule Earth, building shining cities that promise a brilliant future for humanity on the surface, while concealing a sinister agenda and eliminating all who dissent from their new order. Only those who live at the edges of the world have a margin of freedom. Here, a force gathers once again to stand up for humanity. Always on the run, and facing impossible odds, the remnant XCOM forces must find a way to ignite a global resistance, and eliminate the alien threat once and for all. XCOM ON THE RUN: Take command of the Avenger, an alien supply craft converted to XCOM’s mobile headquarters. New open-ended gameplay lets you decide where to guide your strike team, how to grow popular support, and when to combat enemy counter-operations. RECRUIT RESISTANCE FIGHTERS: Five soldier classes, each with its own skill tree, let you create specific soldiers for your tactical plan. TACTICAL GUERRILLA COMBAT: New gameplay systems offer more tactical flexibility in combat. Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols. Loot enemies for precious gear and artifacts. Rescue VIPs and save fallen comrades by carrying them to the extraction point. A NEW BREED OF ENEMY: A diverse cast of enemies from powerful new alien species to the ADVENT, enforcers of the alien regime, offer a distinct tactical challenge. RESEARCH, DEVELOP AND UPGRADE: Configure and build rooms on the Avenger to give XCOM new capabilities on the battlefield. Use your Scientists and Engineers to research, develop and upgrade weapons and armor to fit your preferred tactics. EACH MISSION IS A UNIQUE CHALLENGE: Go on missions around the world, from wildlands to the heart of the alien-controlled megacities, to the depths of alien installations. There are virtually infinite combinations of maps, missions and goals.

Position in Strategy

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume101.7k Steam reviewsTop 6% in Strategy
Positive rating85% positiveGenre average: 84% — this title sits in top 61%
Metacritic88/100Genre average 79 — top 10% of Strategy titles
Concurrent peak3.1k playersTop 6% in Strategy by live player count
Engagement hours64 h averageTop 11% for session depth among Strategy

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Isometric · 2.1k
  • Turn-Based Combat · 2.1k
  • Post-apocalyptic · 2.1k
  • Turn-Based Tactics · 2.1k
  • Military · 2.1k
  • PvE · 2.1k
  • Top-Down · 2.0k
  • Turn-Based · 2.0k
  • Sci-fi · 2.0k
  • Character Customization · 2.0k
  • Logic · 2.0k
  • War · 2.0k
  • Turn-Based Strategy · 2.0k
  • RPG · 2.0k
  • Grid-Based Movement · 2.0k

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (11)

  • English volume_up
  • French volume_up
  • Italian volume_up
  • German volume_up
  • Spanish - Spain volume_up
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Polish
  • Russian
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese volume_up

Full audio (6)

  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Traditional Chinese

Reception Metrics

Steam community

85%Very Positive · 101.7k reviews

86.4k positive · 15.3k negative

Metacritic

88/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

7.3/10

Curator recommendations

76.8k

Peak concurrent players

3.1k

Peer Strategy titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Strategy releases from 2016

9 Strategy titles launched in 2016 — top 6 by review volume.

Press Quotes

“Exceptionally tough, rewarding strategy and a masterful reworking of the XCOM formula. We’ll play this forever.” 94% – PC Gamer “One of the deepest and most rewarding strategy games on the market” 9.5 – Game Informer “XCOM 2 is an amazing game” 9.3 – IGN

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

64h

substantial (40–100 hours)

Median

21h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

14h

Current engagement

Achievements

88

Steam unlocks available

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Workshop
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on Tablet

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateFeb 4, 2016
DeveloperFiraxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)
Publisher2K, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)
Base price$5.99 -90%
DLC / Add-ons7 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners10M–100M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support

Editions & Packages

  • Buy XCOM® 2