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Xenonauts 2 Confirmed, Slated for 2017

Xenonauts 2 Confirmed, Slated for 2017 - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 February 2016 / 4,164 Views

Following the successful launch of XCOM 2, developer and publisher Goldhawk Interactive has announced Xenonauts 2 is in development and is slated to release in 2017.

The original Xenonauts was released in 2014 and was inspired by 1994's X-COM: UFO Defense.


"Xenonauts 2 will not be a chronological sequel, rather it will cover similar events taking place in an alternate timeline – an alien invasion occurring in a Cold War-era Earth," said the developer. "This means humanity does not start with the advanced alien technology unlocked in the first game, and we also have the freedom to subtly alter the story, setting and enemies in order to make a more interesting sequel."

Here are the areas of focus for the developer:

  • Game Engine – using Unity3D will give us a much more capable platform for development than our previous engine, so expect fewer bugs, improved performance, better modding support, etc
  • 3D Graphics – moving from 2D sprites to 3D graphics will improve visual fidelity, but will also be valuable for gameplay – it allows for things like rotating cameras, vastly improved animation, physics objects, accurate projectile tracking, etc
  • Ground Combat – we will be retaining the Time Unit combat system, and will enhance the interface and giving the player additional tactical options: destructible UFOs, better use of terrain verticality, human psionics, etc
  • Geoscape – we want to add a lot more strategic choice for the player with regards to the research tree and how they choose to expand their organisation (there was definitely too much strategic railroading in the first Xenonauts)
  • Air Combat – redesigned to be turn-based and to feature larger numbers of combatants, with the goal of making it a less frequent occurrence but more tactically involved when it does happen
  • Aliens – we are visually and mechanically redesigning all of the enemies, and creating a more intelligent and challenging foe by developing gameplay systems that allow the aliens to respond and adapt to your tactics and technology

"The community that came together around Xenonauts was an invaluable asset through the development process and we will be making every effort to keep them involved with the sequel," the developer added. "An Early Access phase will allow players to snag the game at a discount and shape the development process with their suggestions and feedback on the alpha builds, but this will probably come a little later than it did for the first game – people expect more from Early Access games these days! Anyway, we’ll give more details about our plans when we put out the full announcement for Xenonauts 2."

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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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1 Comments
Aeolus451 (on 07 February 2016)

I wonder about what platforms it will be on.

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