Home / Games / XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
The XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Slingshot Pack is Now Available!
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
53 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“XCOM Enemy Unknown is not as deep and detailed as the original XCOM. It is a different kind of game, refined and simplified for the modern gamer and while I regret some of the lost complexity, this game is absolutely…”
“I've reset the game a dozen times cus my favourite lil guy died. Top tier game, definitely recommend”
“I started my XCOM experience by watching XCOM 2 on YT. Curious as how predecesors presented themselves, I decided to watch a bit of them on YT as well. Then I decided to give them a try and my first title was XCOM Enemy…”
9 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“One of the best tactics and strategy games there is. It can be a very difficult and unforgiving game at times, but it's fair. You just have to realize that when it says you have a 99% chance to hit, that that isn't 100%…”
“This is a masterpiece. It combines the logic of chess with the creativity and risk of DnD. It feels like two games in one, a deep management system and a precise turn based combat experience. Missions may seem…”
“My favorite turn by turn strategy game. Tough to play yet fair, on the regular difficulties that is. I am now playing other games because this one got me so interested in the series. 8/10”
7 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Would rather loose my firstborn then not be able to play this game again.”
“The XCom series of games are one of my favorites ever. The replayability is outstanding.”
“Steam really needs to add some kind of a "Mixed" to reviews. XCOM Enemy Within is a suberp tactical turn based strategy game. The playtime I hit without even realising it, the game continues to keep me coming back but…”
5 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“The game starts off as a standard but fun, turn-based, tactical game with randomly generated soldiers who you can customize and some simple base building/management. It quickly makes you feel that the alien threat is…”
“If you haven't played the XCOM games before and you are into strategy games I would definitely recommend this game. Even if you played through the second game first (Like I did) this game holds up well. I actually…”
“very good game and inciting story, i can't wait to play part 2 now”
5 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Oh my beloved... XCOM is definitely in a league of its own. Probably the most fun turn-based game i've played in a long time. Can be extremely challenging on harder difficulties (especially w/mods). I will not give it's…”
“A Fantastic game! The Enemy within version is harder but it has new nifty toys to play with like mechs and genetically modified soldiers. Hella fun and can be a challenge.”
“Base game good. DLC good. Long War good. Good Game”
8 of the 102 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Pretty engaging and fun tactical game. The campaign isn’t too long (a little over 20 hours for me), and it doesn’t get boring. My main caveat is that the amount of RNG is insane, and sometimes it feels just plain…”
“The worst tutorializing I've ever seen in a game. None of the mechanics are adequately explained, and your entire playthrough dies if you act on limited information. Did you know that Kinetic Strike deals self damage…”
“98% chance that this review would be postive”
8 of the 102 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“The worst tutorializing I've ever seen in a game. None of the mechanics are adequately explained, and your entire playthrough dies if you act on limited information. Did you know that Kinetic Strike deals self damage…”
“I absolutely love this game albeit not as much as its sequel but omg the terrorist missions are actually awful, I just wanna shoot aliens not regular gunmen”
“This is an insult to the original property. Whoever produced this cared more about cutscenes than playability. The enemy will cheat against you even in normal difficulty, which isn't nice. They're designed to get free…”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Still a great game and in my opinion better than the sequel. This is a more straight-forward, no-frills experience and just flows far better. Kinda buggy, which is unfortunate, but not enough to be unplayable.”
“This is an insult to the original property. Whoever produced this cared more about cutscenes than playability. The enemy will cheat against you even in normal difficulty, which isn't nice. They're designed to get free…”
“its great! just like the original i cannot win a single encounter but it really is just me being trash. give it a shot! side note: graphical bugs are kinda annoying but do not really hinder gameplay. might be different…”
Counted across 102 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 93.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Great game but playing it without a camera mod to freely move the camera around and changing zoom levels is torture. Download this mod (has 5 files, you need at least 3 of them) to not be fighting the camera more than the actual enemies You need this mod to install the camera…”
— a player, Steam review · 37 hrs played“Why play in 2026? - gameplay is timeless - comic style graphics age well - it scales perfectly to 4k graphics. yes, even the UI.”
— a player, Steam review · 191 hrs played“Renamed all my soldiers after my friends. They are all dead now. The game looked me dead in the eyes, let me miss a 94% shot and then had a Sectoid one tap my best guy on the very next turn. Incredible stuff. XCOM is genuinely one of the best strategy games ever made: deep,…”
— a player, Steam review · 69 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 11:51 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Time to Play: The 2K Summer Sale is Officially Live on Steam
The 2K Summer Sale is officially live on Steam, and it’s the perfect excuse to find your next great escape. Summer is about having the time to truly immerse yourself, dive deep into a world, and remem
XCOM 2: WAR OF THE CHOSEN PLAY FOR FREE
Play XCOM 2: WAR OF THE CHOSEN for FREE on Steam this weekend. Reclaim Earth from alien invaders and save humanity! XCOM 2 available to buy at a discounted price through 2/14/22 https://store.steampow
Games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
X-COM: UFO Defense
95.7% · 2,940 reviews
shares Unforgiving, Addictive, Aliens, Turn Based
Templar Battleforce
94.2% · 827 reviews
shares Perma Death, Aliens, Turn Based, Turn Based Tactics
BATTLETECH
85.3% · 26,079 reviews
shares Turn Based, Turn Based Tactics, Futuristic, Turn Based Strategy
XCOM®: Chimera Squad
73.7% · 14,568 reviews
shares Aliens, Turn Based, Turn Based Tactics, Futuristic
Phantom Doctrine
73.9% · 2,553 reviews
shares Turn Based, Replay Value, Turn Based Tactics, Turn Based Strategy
Frozen Synapse
85.6% · 1,955 reviews
shares Addictive, Turn Based, Replay Value, Turn Based Tactics
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
79.5% · 3,828 reviews
shares Perma Death, Aliens, Turn Based, Futuristic
Quasimorph
84.9% · 3,628 reviews
shares Perma Death, Turn Based, Turn Based Tactics, Turn Based Strategy
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Turn-Based Strategy · Tactical · Strategy · Sci-fi · Turn-Based · Aliens · Singleplayer · Base-Building · Turn-Based Tactics · Unforgiving · Replay Value · Addictive (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Cross-Platform Multiplayer · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Remote Play on TV |
| Languages | English * , German * , French * , Italian * , Korean, Spanish - Spain * , Russian * , Japanese, Polish * , Traditional Chinese * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 85 |
| Estimated owners | 2,000,000 – 5,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or greater DirectX®: 9.0 Hard Drive: 20 GB HD space Sound: DirectX Compatible Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection Additional: Initial installation requires one-time internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, DirectX and Microsoft .NET 4.