We wrote a few days ago that Firaxis announced XCOM 2 but quickly burned the dreams of many gamers by clarifying that the game will only come out on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Lead Producer, Garth DeAngelis, and Creative Director, Jake Solomon, have clarified the thinking that spurred Firaxis to surprise everyone. While the reasons seem sound – for example console UI can be radically different from that of a PC game – none of the reasons provided really excluded an iOS port and, even more interestingly, there was no mention of any mobile-specific issues that would make such a port impossible. The developers even claimed that they aren’t ruling out making console ports of the game in the future, just not “any time soon." So, personally I think we’ll be seeing an iOS version of the game eventually.
The main reason behind Firaxis’ PC focus (and I use “PC" because that’s the term Firaxis has been using) is the company’s desire to make XCOM 2 the way the developers envision it. Their ambitions of high-end graphics and procedurally generated maps could only be realized if they used the studio’s expertise, which is PC development. A PC-only strategy also made sense logistically, according to DeAngelis, since the team developing the game is on the small side, and it couldn’t develop a multiplatform game without compromising the company’s vision. Solomon got into specifics and explained that the team wants to ensure that the game is mouse-and-keyboard friendly by moving UI elements and grouping them logically so that buttons a player will likely press one after the other aren’t placed on opposite sides of the screen. Also, they want to be able to provide more tactical information to the player, which they wouldn’t be able to do if the game was on console because a PC monitor is almost always closer to the player than a TV screen. They do mention modding as one of the reasons behind the PC-only decision, but their declaration that the game might eventually come to consoles shows that this isn’t such a strong commitment.
So, it’s apparent from the interviews that we shouldn’t expect a multiplatform release. However, it’s also apparent that one, the reasons Firaxis is putting forth don’t exclude an iOS version and, two, if Firaxis isn’t excluding a console version in the future, you can bet that the company isn’t excluding a mobile version either. Developing the UI with a mouse in mind is very similar to doing so with a touchscreen in mind, as the button grouping logic is similar. Yes, iOS lacks the shortcuts a keyboard can offer, but that’s more convenience than necessity. Also, in regards to the issue of providing more on-screen information to the player, the tablet screen sits at pretty much the same distance as a PC monitor, so the same amount of information can be provided to the player in both platforms. Keep in mind that with a larger iPad apparently in the works, the difference in screen real-estate between the two platforms will shrink even more. Finally, the processing and graphical power of iPads has been growing rapidly in the last few years (and tablets have been running some very graphically-intense games without problems); so, a tablet won’t have serious issues running a slightly-scaled down XCOM 2, and before you start asking why would Firaxis even bother to scale down the game’s graphics, remember that since not every PC owner has a monster PC, the game won’t be built only for powerful gaming machines.
After reading the developers’ interviews, it’s clear to me that yes, we aren’t getting a simultaneous release of XCOM 2 on PC and iOS, which doesn’t surprise me because I wasn’t expecting one. Still, I’d be very, very surprised if the game doesn’t eventually end up on tablets. Do you still think that we aren’t going to be killing XCOM 2‘s aliens on our tablets in the future?
