XCOM 2 Delayed, New Release Date Announced

XCOM 2, the sequel to 2012’s stellar XCOM: Enemy Unknown has been delayed. The game was due for a November release this year, however, Firaxis, the studio responsible for the game, has now announced a February 5, 2016 release date for this PC-only title. The studio says the reason for this is so the game can ship with the best possible quality.

“We’ve set a high bar for the sequel and the entire team has been working hard to make sure we deliver a great follow-up to Enemy Unknown. We just need a little more time to make it the best possible game,” a post on the XCOM website said.

(Also see: XCOM 2 Promises to Bring Calculated Dread One Turn at a Time)

“With XCOM 2, we want to have more depth, more replayability, and more investment in your soldiers and this extension will give us the time we need to deliver on our promise to you. We appreciate your patience and continued support as we move towards February.”

Throw in the fact that Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Star Wars: Battlefront, Need for Speed, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 are out in November makes the decision to postpone XCOM 2 to February a wise one.

At Gamescom 2015 we checked out XCOM 2 behind closed doors and were surprised with how good it was. But unlike other genres, flaws in strategy games tend to show themselves after the appeal of great visuals and production values wear off. Extra time to ensure that everything in-game is as it should be is welcome.