Original X-Com creator posts teaser for new strategy game

Julian Gollop, one of the leaders behind UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-Com: Apocalypse, is working on a new strategy game that at least broadly adheres to the X-Com formula. The game is called Phoenix Point.

The teaser site for Phoenix Point contains practically no information at this point. The background image does show the silhouette of a creature reminiscent of the Chryssalids from existing X-Com games. It is therefore possible that aliens will also become the enemy in Phoenix Point. Gollop’s tweet reveals more: the Brit speaks of ‘turn-based tactical combat & world-based strategy’, which have always been two main features of games in the X-Com franchise. However, the game does not bear the Xcom name because the rights to it are currently owned by publisher Take-Two Interactive.

Gollop has been active in the games industry since 1983. In addition to the first and third X-Com games from ’94 and ’97, he has titles such as Laser Squad, Chaos: Battle of the Wizards and Lords of Chaos to his name. His studio, Snapshot Games, has also created a new Chaos game called Chaos Reborn. While it’s not entirely certain at this point that Gollop is working on a game in the same style as the original X-Com, there are other studios that are already walking that path. One is Goldhawk Interactive with their game Xenonauts, which tries to stay as faithful as possible to the original X-Com formula.