X-COM’s original creator keen on a return to the series, if Firaxis was ever to ask him
Julian Gollop, creator of the original X-COM game – known as UFO: Enemy Unknown here in the UK, and followed up by Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown later on – has told Eurogamer that he would be quite happy to return to the series in some form. Also, that he’s fine with still being known as just “the X-COM guy” – despite the few decades’ worth of subsequent games he’s made since.
Speaking with Gollop as part of an interview on his new action-RTS hybrid, Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainiods, where Eurogamer discussed the wider state of strategy and tactics games (on which he has some opinions), the conversation naturally ended up back at his original series. I wondered if he ever felt pigeon-holed by the X-COM label, given how many games he’s made since.
“I am perfectly happy being known as the X-COM guy,” he said when I asked. “I mean, it was a foundational game in my career, and probably also, in some ways, a foundational strategy game in strategy gaming at the time – even though not long after it game out, the RTS scene really took over.”
But then, he added, “as we know, turn-based came back, X-COM came back and so you know, I’m quite proud of what we managed to do then. Can I ever beat that? Well probably not, no,” he laughed. “You know, I’m still interested in making games, maybe not always in the turn-based genre. Chip n’ Clawz is something a little bit different. So you know, I don’t mind. It’s fine!”
As for a hypothetical return – which I was particularly curious about after he made such a close spiritial successor, in 2019’s Phoenix Point – in whatever form that might take? “Yeah, sure,” he said. “I’m still waiting for the call from Sid,” he joked, referring to Firaxis’ long-serving boss Sid Meier. “Let’s see if he calls.”
As for his current project, it’s a smartly-made twist on the genre – a genre Gollop hopes it’ll add at least a small dose of innovation to – but whether that smart twist can help a slightly more family-focused game take off in such an intensely competitive field these days is another question. You can read more about that in our Chip n’ Clawz preview, and full interview with Gollop himself.
