Standalone XCOM game Chimera Squad is coming to PC next week

XCOM 2 follow-up will cost $9.99/£8.49 for a limited time

2K has announced XCOM: Chimera Squad, a new standalone entry in Firaxis Games’ turn-based tactical series set five years after XCOM 2.

Chimera Squad will be released for PC via Steam on April 24 with an introductory price of $9.99/£8.49, before rising to £19.99/£16.99 on May 1.

The game sees players take control of Chimera Squad, an elite group of agents trying to maintain peace in City 31 in the face of opposition to an interspecies alliance between humans, hybrids and aliens.

“With XCOM: Chimera Squad, we felt there were exciting gameplay opportunities yet to be discovered within the XCOM universe,” said Mark Nauta, lead designer at Firaxis.

“Gameplay like Breach Mode, interleaved turn order, and the introduction of agents as fully fleshed-out characters will revolutionize how the game plays while still retaining the combat experience that makes the XCOM series so loved by gaming communities around the world.”

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XCOM: Chimera Squad key features:

Unique Alien and Human Agents: Each of the 11 agents have their own distinct personality and tactical abilities, including species-specific attacks like the Viper’s tongue pull;
Specialized and Complementary Classes: Execute devastating combos by teaming the right agents and utilizing cooperative actions. The difference between mission success and failure can depend wholly on team composition;
Re-Envisioned Tactical Combat: Missions are structured as a series of discrete, explosive encounters, keeping the action intense and unpredictable;
Breach Mode: Players will shape the battlefield to their advantage with a new combat phase that injects squads right into action. They will strategically assign agents to different entry points and coordinate their assault plans with a range of Breach-specific skills;
Interleaved Turns: An automatic initiative system will slot individual agents and enemies into an alternating turn order, creating new strategic possibilities based on what unit is queued to act next – and what unit is at the greatest risk when they do so;
Suspenseful Strategy Layer: Outside of combat, players will manage the operations of a high-tech HQ, where they must prioritize competing tasks, investigations and agent assignments in the face of a ticking clock: the constantly rising unrest in the city’s various districts, driving City 31 closer and closer to total anarchy.

XCOM 2 Collection, which includes the base game, four DLC packs and the War of the Chosen expansion, will be released for Nintendo Switch on May 29.

It will arrive on Nintendo‘s console alongside fellow 2K games BioShock: The Collection and Borderlands Legendary Collection.