X-Com confirmed for 360/PC, Firaxis working on turn-based sequel?
3D artist's resume indicates 2K Games was working on installment in sci-fi series as early as January 2007; less substantial speculation has storied strategy studio working on second new entry.
Source: Increasingly notorious information amalgamator Superannuation.
What we heard: In November 2007, rumors surfaced that 2K Boston was developing a reboot of the classic X-Com series. Since then, only a few breadcrumbs of information have leaked out. In March, studio head Ken Levine expressed his admiration for the tactical sci-fi franchise and admitted to recently playing its poorly received last installment, the 2001 shooter spin-off X-Com: Enforcer (pictured top). In August, job listings indicated that 2K Boston is working on an unidentified shooter, raising the possibility of another action title set in the X-Com universe.
Such a scenario appears to have been confirmed this week, when Superannuation dug up the resume of a 3D artist who worked for 2K Australia from January 2007 until April 2008. The resume lists the artist as working on two projects during that time: "Bioshock (Xbox 360, PC Game)" and "X-Com (Xbox 360, PC Game)."
The resume's cut-and-dried confirmation was obscured somewhat by subsequent Twitter messages from Superannuation's proprietor that pointed to a second X-Com in the works. The tweets read: "Apparently, there's a rumor that X-Com is being developed by Firaxis, which I wouldn't find hard to believe. I swear that I read they're working on a sci-fi game somewhere...The rumor is that there's two X-Com games--[an] FPS from Irrational and [a] turn-based one from Firaxis."
As it turns out, rumors of a Firaxis-developed reboot of X-Com go back to 2001. That's when Atari parent Infogrames bought X-Com publisher MicroProse, the birthplace of the wildly popular Civilization series cocreated by Firaxis cofounder Sid Meier. During a 2004 video interview promoting the relaunch of Pirates, Meier told GameSpot that Firaxis had entered into a long-term agreement with Atari to retain the X-com IP. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the X-Com license transferred to Take-Two when it bought Firaxis in 2005.
The official story: "No comment." -- A tight-lipped 2K Games rep.
Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that 2K Boston is working on a new X-Com game of some sort, with a shooter spin-off being a strong possibility. As far as a second turn-based X-Com game from Firaxis is concerned, it would be the stuff of old-school gamers' dreams. And, as Fallout 3's massive sales proved, a critically acclaimed reboot of a classic franchise can reap massive rewards.
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