In 2012, 2K Games and developer Firaxis brought back one of the most beloved turn-based strategy game franchises of all time. XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released to rave reviews, and its success even warranted a DLC expansion called XCOM: Enemy Within that also received a full release.

Recently, 2K started an ARG teaser campaign for a mysterious project called Project Advent. Speculation pointed to the mystery game either being a new BioShock game (as 2K recently expressed interest in more BioShock sequels) or a sequel to the 2012 XCOM reboot. Today the ARG was revealed to indeed be teasing the latter, as XCOM 2 has now been officially announced as a PC exclusive game.

Besides the announcement, some details have been revealed in terms of plot, gameplay, and a release window. First and foremost, those looking forward to XCOM 2 can expect to play the game at some point in November of this year.

As for plot (beware of potential spoilers for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within), it seems as though XCOM 2 is making the "bad ending" from the reboot the primary canon. In the world of XCOM 2, aliens have taken over, infiltrating the world's leaders and obtaining immense power. The player must operate the titular XCOM unit to bring down the alien menace and save the world from their clutches.

This will be accomplished through the traditional turn-based strategy gameplay that the franchise is known for. Players will have to make tough decisions at their base and on the battlefield in order to survive the crisis of an alien-controlled Earth. This sequel is not satisfied just resting on its laurels, however, and there will be new gameplay features as well.

One of the main new gameplay features is procedurally generated levels, a first for the franchise. There will also be additional emphasis placed on customization than in previous entries, with more soldier types as well. To go along with the new soldier types, there will be new aliens to deal with too, with more details on the new soldier types and alien types entail to come soon.

It is somewhat odd that Firaxis Games decided to make XCOM 2 a PC exclusive. After all, the reboot, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, released across a wide variety of platforms, including the standard PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, as well as Android and iOS devices. Firaxis is definitely a PC-minded developer first and foremost, but the console release of Enemy Unknown helped make it a success and certainly made the XCOM brand bigger than it already was. It is possible that XCOM 2 could come to consoles or other devices eventually, but for now, console gamers are out of luck as it remains exclusive to PC for the time being.

XCOM 2 will be released at some point in November of this year, currently only for PC. Expect more news about the game to release this month, especially during the PC Gamer portion of E3 2015.

Source: IGN