Surprise!

Iridium Starfish has launched an official XCOM mobile game spin-off on the Android Google Play store. XCOM Legends is still in development and only available in some selected regions, including Malaysia.

It’s worth pointing out that XCOM Legends can only be played vertically, and while it is still turn-based, the only movement or positioning involved is deciding which of your heroes to put behind cover as they rush from one 5v5 encounter to the next.

XCOM players will also likely have to get used to the fact that changing positions now having a five-turn cooldown.

XCOM Legends is set in the XCOM 2 timeline (where humanity lost the first war in 2012’s XCOM). During the mobile game’s tutorial, players will discover an alien device called the Archway, which lets you summon legendary heroes or artifacts in exchange for premium currency.

Yes, you read that right. XCOM Legends is indeed gacha game.

If you really want to experience a genuine uncorrupted XCOM experience, you should play XCOM Enemy Within and XCOM 2 Collection instead, both of which are now on mobile as well (albeit being games that you have to pay for). XCOM 2 Collection includes the base game, the brilliant War of the Chosen expansion, and four DLC add-on packs. You can check out my brief review (revisit) of XCOM 2 here.

In the meantime, check out the XCOM Legends gameplay footage below: