XCOM: Enemy Unknown

This page is for the reboot. For the original game, see X-COM: UFO Defense.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Developers
	Firaxis Games
	Blind Squirrel Games
macOS (OS X)	Feral Interactive
Linux	Feral Interactive
Publishers
	2K Games
OS X, Linux	Feral Interactive
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	October 9, 2012
macOS (OS X)	June 27, 2013
Linux	June 19, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	89
IGDB	89
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC, Expansion pack
Microtransactions	Cosmetic, Finite spend
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Turn-based
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Point and select
Genres	Strategy
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	X-COM

X-COM
X-COM: UFO Defense	1994
X-COM: Terror from the Deep	1995
X-COM: Apocalypse	1997
X-COM: Interceptor	1998
X-COM: Email games	1999
X-COM: Enforcer	2001
XCOM: Enemy Unknown	2012
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified	2013
XCOM 2	2016
XCOM: Chimera Squad	2020

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view strategy game in the X-COM series.

The game suffers from an abundance of bugs, some being game-breaking as of 2012.

General information

PC Report - XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Linux

UFOpaedia - Wiki for the series

Official Forum - not PC-specific

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Developer website		Elite Edition. The Complete Edition also available.
GamersGate		The Complete Edition also available.
		The Complete Edition also available.
GOG.com		The Complete Edition. Single-player only.
Green Man Gaming		The Complete Edition also available.
Humble Store		The Complete Edition also available.
Steam		The Complete Edition also available. Steam CEG 1.1.0.2100.
Mac App Store (unavailable)		Elite Edition.

All Linux versions require Steam DRM.

A free demo version is available on Steam: steam://install/216690

Version differences

Complete Pack / Complete Edition include all the DLC.

Elite Edition for OS X includes the two DLC packs, but not the Enemy Within expansion.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Elite Soldier Pack	Pre-order bonus, also available for separate purchase.
XCOM: Enemy Within
Slingshot Pack

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -nostartupmovies command line argument

Enable armor tint options

Enable armor tints
Go to the configuration files location. Open XComGame.ini or DefaultGame.ini. Add the following lines at the end [XComStrategyGame.XGCustomizeUI] bArmorDecoAvailable=true bArmorTintAvailable=true

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Unknown\XComGame\Config\ %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\Config\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Library/Application Support/Feral Interactive/XCOM Enemy Unknown/
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/feral-interactive/XCOM/WritableFiles/

This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Unknown\XComGame\SaveData\ %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\SaveData\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Library/Application Support/Feral Interactive/XCOM Enemy Unknown/
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/feral-interactive/XCOM/savedata/ $XDG_DATA_HOME/feral-interactive/XCOM/XEW/savedata/

Savegames will start appearing in the wrong order once there are around 100.

Having too many savegames can cause slowdowns, which can be fixed by regularly purging them.

Savegames are game localization specific. Hence they are not usable if language is switched after campaign start.

If savegames are not showing when starting the game in Linux after playing it in Windows, go to the savegames location in Linux and change the name of the folder SaveData to savedata.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game display settings.

In-game graphics settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			See the WSGF entry to fix the game rendering upside-down.
Ultra-widescreen			Mouse position is off the further it gets from the center of the screen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Includes "Borderless Window" display mode.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA, cannot be disabled. Lowest setting is "Low". SGSSAA is available with the flag 0x000100C5.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate or refresh rate cap except for cutscenes at ~30 fps.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		Game's color scheme is inherently friendly (no dedicated mode).

HBAO is available with the flags 0x00000010 or 0x00000020.

The SLI flag 0x02422405 may offer better performance.

Enemy Within's XComEW.exe isn't listed as part of XCOM Enemy Unknown's Nvidia profile, requiring it to be added manually or the profile duplicated using Nvidia Profile Inspector.

Input

In-game input settings.

In-game input settings, menu bindings.

In-game input settings, tactical bindings.

Keyboard and mouse, touch	State	Notes
Remapping		Can bind two key combinations for each function.
Mouse acceleration		Some in-game functions cause mouse to accelerate wildly (e.g., any area-of-effect ability).
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Touchscreen optimised		Requires Enemy Within DLC. Must be first enabled in options.
Controller
Controller support		Must be first enabled in options. KB/M is disabled while controller is enabled.
Full controller support		If Enemy Within is installed, use -FROMLAUNCHER parameter to launch base game. For the expansion instead replace <path-to-game>\XEW\Binaries\Win32\XCOMLauncher.exe with XComEW.exe
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers
DualShock button prompts
Light bar support
Connection modes	unknown

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		KB/M is disabled while controller is enabled.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		With surround sound enabled certain sounds such as dialogue audio cannot be heard.
Subtitles		At least a few subtitle lines are bugged that will show code references instead of subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Normal UE3 -LANGUAGE and -LANGUAGEFORCOOKING override parameters are broken in base game and will always fallback to English

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, link #1, link #2.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation.
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Versus Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play		2	Versus Steam only.
Online play		2	Versus Steam only.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Turn off multiplayer chat

Turn off multiplayer voice chat
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open XComEngine.ini or DefaultEngine.ini. Find the [VoIP] section Change the value of bHasVoiceEnabled to false

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			Use Helix Mod to improve 3D support.
TriDef 3D
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Save game slowdowns

Having a lot of savegames might cause the game to momentarily freeze while loading the "Save Game" screen.

Delete unnecessary save games
Save games can be found in save game data location.

Windows

Game appears to run in slow motion

Using Gigabyte's OC Guru overclocking tool can cause the game to appear to run in slow motion, then jump forward in time every few seconds.

Close the OC Guru overlay
In the taskbar, right click on the Gigabyte OC Guru and click Close. You may need to click show hidden icons to see the icon.

Game crashes or runs extremely slow (AMD Bulldozer CPUs)

See Steam CEG protected games crash or freeze the system

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX	2.8.4.6
Interface	Scaleform
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.99a
Multiplayer	Steamworks

Modifications

Skip Launcher

Skips over the launch window that asks whether to play Enemy Unknown or Enemy Within, defaulting to playing Enemy Within.

UPKUtils (and PatcherGUI)

Collection of windows console utilities to read/patch UPK files.

Page also hosts PatcherGUI, a tool to install and maintain modifications for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within.

If you are only modding your game, you do not need UPKUtils. PatcherGUI contains all files from UPKUtils necessary for mods, the majority of mods referring to UPKUtils as a requirement are actually referring to PatcherGUI.

Long War Mod Manager

Utility to simplify the installation and removal mods for the Long War overhaul mod.

If you are using this, you do not need PatcherGUI. This utility contains the latest PatcherGUI code already.

XCOM Interface and Gameplay Tweaks

A collection of small interface and gameplay tweaks (no disappearing corpses, Overwatch and Hunker Down delay, adjust soldier gender probability, XP and mobility display, abductions in countries with satellite coverage, etc.)

Requires PatcherGUI or Long War Mod Manager to install.

XCOM Camera Tweaks

A collection of camera tweaks (camera zoom level, min and max zoom, free aiming zoom, rocket aiming zoom and yaw angle).

Some tweaks can lead to weird camera movement and glitching on specific maps.

Requires PatcherGUI or Long War Mod Manager to install.

UI Mod Manager

Adds in-game menu which allows for turning on/off mutator-based mods as well as setting their options without the need to fiddle with .ini files.

Works with any XCOM version (EW, Long War, etc.)

XCOM Mini Mods (EW and LW)

A collection of mutator-based mods for Enemy Within and Long War (sort soldier lists, have button "Make Items Available" anytime, inject meld to cut healing time, clear perks and respec a soldier, Scout Sense, Shadow Step, New Sequential Overwatch, etc.)

Requires UI Mod Manager and PatcherGUI/Long War Mod Manager to install.

X-COM Map Patches

Countless map bug fixes for vanilla XCOM Enemy Within and Long War.

Long War

Overhaul mod that features over 700 distinct changes in gameplay from vanilla gameplay to create a far longer and more intense conflict with the aliens.

Has it's own wiki page on UFOpaedia with a complete breakdown of all changes made.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Vista	7
Processor (CPU)	2.0 GHz Dual Core	AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT	ATI Radeon HD 3000 series Nvidia GeForce 9000 series

Windows XP is not supported, but the game can be made to run on it using this guide.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.8.5	10.9.5
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series Nvidia GeForce 9000 Series 256 MB of VRAM	512 GB of VRAM

The following cards require 8 GB of RAM: Nvidia GeForce 320M, Nvidia GeForce 9400 and Intel HD3000.

The OS X version is not supported on these graphics cards: ATI Radeon X1xxx series, ATI Radeon HD2xxx series, Intel GMA series, Nvidia GeForce 7xxx series, Nvidia GeForce 8xxx series.

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit
Processor (CPU)	2.0 GHz	3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	16 GB
Video card (GPU)	AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series Nvidia GeForce GTX 600 Series Intel Iris Pro Graphics 512 MB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce GTX 700 Series 1 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.