XCOM: Enemy Unknown was one of our favorite games last year, but the brilliant turn-based strategy game lacks the modding support we hope for in big PC games. In a new interview, XCOM designer Garth DeAngelis says that modding tools aren’t “on the table currently,” but that doesn’t mean they’re never coming.

“Technically, sure, there’s a lot of support for and modding and things like that,” DeAngelis told PCGamesN. “And, if we were to do it, we’d want to do it right. We’d provide the proper level of tools and support and that takes a little more planning and time to get that right and we’re not on that right now.”

There are some mods available for Enemy Unknown at the XCOM Mod Nexus, yes. But without dedicated dev tools and an established community, the mod nexus offering will never be as robust as, say, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s 581 pages of Steam Workshop mods.

Altering game data will be a bit easier in Enemy Unknown’s expansion pack, XCOM: Enemy Within, though. XCOM senior designer Anand Gupta told PCGamesN that in Enemy Within, “ll the stuff you’d expect to be in the easily accessible data, the .ini files, is. Like the ‘How much does a mech cost?’ stuff is relatively easy for players to touch... We also did make an effort to move more core game data into those things, things that we didn’t have to. It doesn’t rise to the level of tool support or editor support. But we did make it more accessible for people who wanted to tweak those files.”

Enemy Within comes out on November 15, and I’m looking forward to seeing what devoted fans some up with. Until dedicated modding tools arrive someday, it’s the best we’re going to get.

Thanks, PCGamesN.

Just over a week ago, news broke of XCOM: Enemy Within - a very orangey expansion to Enemy Unknown. The accompanying video, in true XCOM tradition, showed a shadowy guy saying things in his Serious Voice, with nary a hint of gameplay footage to back it up. As with the moon landings and the inner workings of Pat Sharp's Fun House, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was protected by some vast government conspiracy - y'know, if it wasn't for this brand new trailer chock-full of the stuff. It's entitled War Machines, and true to the name it shows off the expansion's new bio-engineering and robo-mech-suit features. There is also a lot of alien-punching. If Will Smith happens to be watching: that one's all on you.



Several of these technological advancements are thanks to a "newly discovered alien substance", which you can slather all over your soldiers to "augment them biologically". Oo-er. There's talk of this procedure, and the cybernetics-based mech suits, requiring some sort of sacrifice - an evocative thought, but it's not clear if that actually means anything in gameplay terms (your PSI-enabled troops in the first game didn't come with any disadvantages, after all). For now, all we can see is a sort of energy headbutt, and a fair bit of mech-on-alien melee action.

To find out more about XCOM: Enemy Within, augment your coffee table with the latest issue of the mag.

Ta, Polygon.

Earlier today, Firaxis announced XCOM: Enemy Within, a full expansion to their ace tactical strategy XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It will add more of everything: aliens, soldiers, technology, missions, maps, abilities, weapons, and upgrades, including cybernetic enhancements and genetic modification. And, if these screenshots are anything to go by, it will drown the world in a deadly orange glow - replacing the base game's dark blues, with a fiery new palette.

XCOM: Enemy Within is due out November 12th.

Drink in the glow of our complete Gamescom coverage.

The rumours were true. While manually cranking the website in preparation for the coming day's news, a mysterious and silhouetted figure appeared on the screen. "Commander..." he began, before I pointed out he probably had the wrong computer. "Well, I'm here now," he shrugged, clearly invested in the moment, "so I may as well tell you that XCOM: Enemy Within has been announced." A strange way to start the morning, but it's hard to complain when the result is a giant expansion to the excellent XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It will add new units, enemies, maps, weapons, equipment, and features. And a robotic exoskeleton.

A second transmission is coming through:



A here's the feature debrief:


"New Soldier Abilities: Research a new alien technology to advance the capabilities of operatives:
"Gene Mods: Construct the Genetics Lab to physically enhance operatives' abilities, including augmentations to the chest, brain, eyes, skin and legs.
"MECs: Build the Cybernetics Lab to enable the construction of the new Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit, or MEC. The new MEC Trooper class has specialized abilities and each suit can be upgraded with new weapons including the flamethrower, grenade launcher and more.
"New Weapons and Equipment: Give operatives an extra tactical edge with new projects from the engineering team in the Foundry;
"New Enemy Threats: Adopt new tactics to counter the threats from a host of new enemies, including the Mechtoid;
"New Strategic Resource: A valuable new alien resource, known as Meld, has been discovered. Secure it on the battlefield and use it carefully back at base to unlock new research and upgrades;
"New Tactical Challenges and Maps: Face new tactical challenges, on nearly 50% more maps;
"New Multiplayer Maps, Units and Abilities: Create custom squad from a wider array of options and dominate opponents in intense, one-on-one, turn-based matches."


An attached note says "burn after reading". Wait, no! Don't set fire to your monitor. Just copy everything down onto a piece of paper, read it, and burn that. Tactics, see?

We'll have more soon, including a big feature in the next issue of the magazine.

XCOM: Enemy Within is due out November 12th.

We've tracked the source of the broadcast to Germany. Keep an eye on our complete Gamescom coverage to learn about the latest transmissions.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown has just received a collection of Achievements Unknown. Thirty of them have been added to the game's Steam Global Achievement Page, all showing placeholder names and text. It's another hint that new XCOM content could be on the way, after, last week, a Korean listing appeared for something called "XCOM: Enemy Within".



Firaxis have confirmed that they'll be revealing an unannounced project at this year's Gamescom conference. The number of achievements would suggest that, if it is new XCOM, it will be some form of fairly major expansion. Enemy Unknown's only other additional post-release content, the Slingshot mission pack, added five achievements to the game.

Gamescom starts August 21st, so we'll likely have more details then.

Thanks, Polygon.