Firaxis will be returning with XCOM 2 and surprised quite a number of us when it confirmed that the game would be PC-exclusive. It’s especially surprising when you consider that XCOM: Enemy Unknown was actually pretty good on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Creative director Jake Solomon and lead producer Garth DeAngeli explained the studio’s stance to IGN, with Solomon revealing that features like improved destruction, physically based rendering and high fidelity characters and settings were on the top of their features list. “To do that, we had to use all of our studio expertise… and our expertise here is PC. That’s our home, and that’s where we’re really comfortable.”
DeAngelis further added that, “Internally, with a relatively small team for the size of the game that we are, to be able to say we can focus on our platform that the studio has a pedigree for, and that X-COM: UFO Defense has a pedigree for, as PC-only…it just made a lot of sense, and that’s how we wanted to dedicate our time.”
Because of this focus, PC players can expect the mouse and keyboard controls and interface to be comfortable. Gamepad support will be included but only after the game’s launch. XCOM 2 will be out in November 2015. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.