XCOM director reassures fans the series is ‘definitely not dead’

XCOM and XCOM 2 director Jake Solomon has told VGC that the series is “definitely not dead”.

In an upcoming interview about his next game, the deck-building tactical RPG Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Solomon was quick to reassure fans that the much-loved Firaxis series will return someday.

“As long as I live, as long as Firaxis lives, XCOM is… I won’t even say sleeping. I will say XCOM is definitely not dead,” Solomon said.

The last XCOM game, spin-off Chimera Squad, was released for PC in 2020. The last full installment, XCOM 2, was released back in 2016.

Solomon’s next game, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, was shown off as part of Summer Game Fest.

The PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC versions of the game will be released on the newly-confirmed date, while the Switch version “will be available at a later date”.

A new trailer for the game broadcast during Summer Game Fest shows the Midnight Suns fighting against Lilith’s army, joined by two new playable heroes including Spider-Man.

The heroes face off against Lilith’s own group of enemies, including corrupted Fallen versions of Venom, Sabretooth, the Hulk and Scarlet Witch.

Further reading

Firaxis has delayed Marvel’s Midnight Suns to the second half of 2022

XCOM developer says it needs more time to improve quality

2K also confirmed that there will be four different editions of the game:

• Standard Edition – $59.99. Base version on PS4, Xbox One and PC
• Enhanced Edition – $69.99. Base version on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, plus five premium skins
• Digital+ Edition – $79.99. All formats, 11 premium skins
• Legendary Edition – $99.99. All formats, 23 premium skins and Season Pass

The XCOM series originated in 1994 with UFO: Enemy Unknown. The most recent incarnation of the series began with Firaxis in 2012 with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. This was followed by XCOM 2 in 2016. Both games were well received. A spin-off game, XCOM: Chimera Squad was released for PC in 2020.