Franchise file / Julian Gollop
X-COM
Earth's last line of defence
Julian Gollop's alien invasion strategy series began at Mythos Games in 1994, and Firaxis rebuilt it in 2012. Hold the line, lose good soldiers, and learn to live with it.
- 1994
- First game
- 2
- Series
- Julian Gollop
- Creator
One world. Many eras.
Choose your chapter
The MicroProse years. UFO Defense set the template, sold in Europe as UFO: Enemy Unknown. Terror from the Deep and Apocalypse followed, before Interceptor and the shooter Enforcer took the name into new genres.
Start with X-COM: UFO DefenseYour next late night
The essentials
Chapters
Series (2)
X-COMOriginal X-COM strategy series from MicroProse, which began in 1994 with UFO Defense. You run a secret force against alien invaders, mixing turn-based tactics with base management.XCOMFiraxis's revival of X-COM, starting with XCOM: Enemy Unknown in 2012. Turn-based squad tactics return with permanent loss, and the line includes The Bureau as a third-person spin-off.
A legacy worth revisiting
Every soldier is a gamble.
X-COM pairs turn-based squad fights with a base to run, research to fund and nations to keep on side. Soldiers you named and levelled can die to a single missed shot, and the campaign carries that loss forward.
- 1994 to 2001
- The MicroProse years
- 2012 to 2020
- The Firaxis revival
Scenes that stay with you
Inside the world
Select a frame to expand it.
