Which of course it does, because almost every mobile game is now broadly the same thing, so focused have the studies of metrics and economies and player engagement and endorphin hits become.

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There are hints of Firaxis’ recent games here, like some of the background art and unit design, but then this game pretends those never existed canonically, as its plot description is:

Twenty years have passed since Earth surrendered to the alien invaders. By the time we realized the alien threat, the war was already over and humanity was lost. To exterminate the last of the resistance fighters, the aliens have unleashed an untold, ancient evil.

We now need your help once again, Commander, to assemble XCOM’s greatest warriors, both past and present and take back Earth. Are you ready?

What I don’t get here is why bother with the XCOM license? This isn’t XCOM, and XCOM isn’t exactly a household name. Even if it were, the actual XCOM games are already available on mobile. Both of them! And they’re pretty great!

Only those games are both standalone purchases, not custom-designed money sinks designed to prey on people’s impulses and....ah, OK I get it.

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Update 11:31 p.m.: This post and its headline have been edited to reflect that soft launches are common in the mobile space, and not reflective of the quality of the game itself.