Initially slated for a worldwide release in November, Take Two and developer Firaxis have announced that strategy sequel XCOM 2 won’t hit PC platforms until February 5, 2016.
Taking to its official blog, Firaxis levelled with fans about the postponement, revealing that the creative team is setting out to create “a great follow-up to Enemy Unknown,” and such a commitment now requires more time than originally anticipated.
“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,” reads message from the development team. “We just need a little more time to make it the best possible game. We appreciate your patience and continued support as we move towards February,” it said. “Good luck, Commander!”
Take Two is no stranger to pushing new releases out of the crowded holiday period, as it employed a similar strategy to Turtle Rock’s Evolve last year, which was always rescheduled for a launch in February. Such a strategy is becoming commonplace amongst triple-A game development, with last week bringing word that Ubisoft had opted to push its tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege by a couple of months into December.
As for XCOM 2, Firaxis’ sequel was originally unveiled via a clandestine marketing campaign in the days leading up to E3. At the time of writing, it is slated for release exclusively on PC, though the studio hasn’t quite ruled out the chance of the strategy game eventually making its way onto consoles further down the road.
Following today’s news, XCOM 2 will now make its debut on PC on February 5, 2016.