Xenonauts 2

Xenonauts 2 PC is a turn-based sci-fi strategy game from Goldhawk Interactive and Hooded Horse. Current Steam, GOG, and Epic storefront listings use the name Xenonauts 2; no verified rebrand or replacement edition currently supersedes that title. It is a standalone successor inspired by classic X-COM, combining global crisis management, base construction, real-time UFO interceptions, and punishing squad combat.

Commanding the Global War

The campaign places you in charge of a multinational defense organization operating during an alternate Cold War. Your task is not simply to win individual battles. You must detect alien activity, protect vulnerable regions, manage panic, expand your coverage, and keep a technologically inferior force capable of fighting another day.

The strategic layer takes place on a global map where UFOs, missions, aircraft, bases, and regional threats compete for your attention. Every response has an opportunity cost. Chasing one crash site may leave another region exposed, while spending resources on aircraft can delay better armor, weapons, or laboratory infrastructure.

Base placement is a central strategic decision. You can operate up to six bases, each built on a 6x6 grid with facilities connected to an access lift. Radar coverage, aircraft range, hangar capacity, storage, power, staff accommodation, research, engineering, and training all influence how a base should be arranged.

Turn-Based Combat With Time Units

Ground missions use an elevated, isometric tactical perspective and a flexible Time Units system. Soldiers can move, fire, reload, throw grenades, use equipment, or reposition after shooting as long as they retain enough action points. This makes each turn less about selecting one ability and more about budgeting movement, ammunition, exposure, and retreat options.

Cover, line of sight, facing, vision cones, elevation, terrain, ammunition, and reaction fire shape every engagement. Alien forces do not simply wait for you to reveal them. They can maneuver beyond your visual range, exploit high ground, hide behind cover, and punish squads that advance without reconnaissance.

Soldiers improve through combat and training, earn medals, gain ranks, and become more valuable as they survive. The campaign embraces permanent casualties rather than protecting a fixed cast of heroes. Recruits are expendable in the narrow sense, but experienced operatives can provide a major advantage that is difficult to replace.

Mission objectives vary beyond simple elimination. Regular operations include crashed UFO recovery, landed UFO assaults, alien ground missions, abductions, and terror sites. Special operations involve the Cleaner organization, alien bases, base defense, and story-critical objectives, giving the campaign a broader structure than a sequence of interchangeable firefights.

Research, Capture, and Engineering Choices

Research is driven by recovered materials, alien corpses, captured enemies, and evidence gathered during operations. The technology tree contains more than one hundred projects, covering weapons, armor, aircraft, vehicles, base upgrades, explosives, autonomous platforms, and plot progression.

Capturing aliens alive is strategically different from destroying them. Interrogation projects can improve training and increase damage against the corresponding species, while recovered technology enables new equipment and engineering paths. Choosing whether to secure bodies, use explosives, deploy vehicles, or finish a mission quickly creates meaningful tradeoffs rather than a single optimal approach.

Vehicles and automated systems add another layer to battlefield preparation. Combat platforms can break through cover and deliver heavy ordnance, while sentry guns and other autonomous defenses can support forward operations or protect installations. Their power comes with economic and salvage costs, so they are tools to integrate into a plan, not automatic replacements for soldiers.

The alien roster includes distinct threats such as Sectons, Mantids, Mentarchs, Sebillians, Psyons, Reapers, Brutes, Servitors, Wraiths, and Andr­ons. Their abilities encourage players to learn enemy behavior instead of relying on one universal squad setup.

The Cleaners and Air War

The Cleaners are a human faction working with the aliens to conceal the invasion, spread panic, and hunt the Xenonauts. Their presence changes the early and middle campaign by adding human opponents, intelligence operations, specialized objectives, and a separate network that can be disrupted through targeted missions.

Air operations are not limited to an automatic interception screen. You can directly command fighter wings during real-time UFO battles, issuing maneuver and target instructions while managing fuel, weapon payloads, aircraft range, and nearby hangars. Squadrons can combine multiple interceptors against stronger alien craft, making the strategic air network important before a ground mission even begins.

Aircraft development is tied closely to research and base logistics. Interceptors need suitable weapons, fuel coverage, hangar space, and maintenance funding, while dropships determine how many soldiers and vehicles can reach an operation. The result is a connected air-and-ground campaign rather than two unrelated gameplay modes.

Content Model and Current PC Editions

Xenonauts 2 is a premium single-player game. Current storefront information presents the main game as a standalone purchase rather than a free-to-play service, recurring battle pass, or multiplayer product. The verified Steam package contains the base game, and no released gameplay expansion is identified as part of the current standard package.

Developer communications have discussed continuing support and future DLC plans, but planned content should not be confused with included content. Players comparing listings should look for the exact product name and entitlement details instead of assuming that a deluxe, complete, or supporter label exists across every storefront.

The game is available for Windows PC through Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG. The GOG edition is listed as DRM-free and supports an offline installer without requiring GOG Galaxy. Steam adds platform features such as achievements, trading cards, cloud saves, and Family Sharing. The storefront listings identify the experience as single-player.

Who Should Play Xenonauts 2?

Xenonauts 2 suits players who want a demanding campaign where tactical mistakes can damage the wider strategic position. It is particularly strong for fans of classic X-COM rules, soldier management, limited resources, base optimization, research planning, and battles where information is as important as firepower.

It is less suitable for players seeking cooperative missions, split-screen play, competitive multiplayer, fast character-action combat, or a forgiving campaign with frequent safety nets. The game expects players to accept injuries, failed operations, dead soldiers, and strategic setbacks as part of the learning process.

Players coming from modern squad tactics may find the Time Units model, reaction fire, broader squad sizes, and less cinematic presentation more demanding than the streamlined action systems in campaign-driven tactical games such as XCOM 2. That difference is central to Xenonauts 2 rather than a minor variation.

Related Tactical Strategy Games

For a different campaign structure built around persistent units and economic management, turn-based mercenary strategy with customizable BattleMech lances in BattleTech is a natural comparison. BattleTech replaces alien infantry and global panic with contracts, salvage, heat management, pilot progression, and machine maintenance.

Xenonauts 2 remains the more direct choice for players who want a worldwide defense simulation, hidden bases, UFO interception, and an invasion that develops across multiple fronts. Its appeal comes from the interaction between those systems, not from any single cinematic set piece or character class.

Xenonauts 2 FAQ

Is Xenonauts 2 the current official storefront name?

Yes. Steam, GOG, and Epic storefront listings currently use Xenonauts 2. No verified rebrand or alternate definitive title replaces the name across those stores.

Do I need to play the first Xenonauts?

No. Xenonauts 2 is presented as a standalone game. Previous knowledge may help players recognize classic X-COM ideas, but it is not required to follow the campaign or understand the core systems.

Does Xenonauts 2 have multiplayer or co-op?

No documented campaign co-op, split-screen, or competitive multiplayer mode is listed in the current storefront information. The verified PC experience is built around single-player strategic and tactical play.

Does the game support controllers?

Native full controller support is not listed among the current Steam features. Xenonauts 2 is primarily designed around mouse-and-keyboard input, which is well suited to its dense strategic interface, base construction, and tactical command menus.

What languages are supported on PC?

Current Steam listings identify English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese support. English includes full audio, while the other listed languages provide interface and subtitle localization.

What makes Xenonauts 2 different from modern XCOM-style games?

Its defining differences are the Time Units combat system, broader squad management, direct real-time UFO interceptions, global base coverage, research and capture tradeoffs, and a campaign that treats casualties and strategic failure as persistent consequences.