XCOM 2 - Multiplayer will be shut down this Month

PCGamesN reports that the multiplayer service for XCOM 2 will be shut down:

XCOM 2's multiplayer will be shut down this month

XCOM 2 multiplayer and challenge mode is going away

It's now six years after XCOM 2 released on Steam, and one of the best strategy games on PC is about to lose two big features. In a new update, developer Firaxis Games reveals it will shut XCOM 2's multiplayer and other online modes by the end of this month.

XCOM 2 is one of the best turn-based strategy games ever made, but it seems like the online side of the game may not be that popular. XCOM 2's multiplayer consisted of players taking control of humans and aliens to mix-and-match a squad, similar to the first game. An online leaderboard-based Challenge Mode was also added with the War of the Chosen expansion.

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Thanks Henriquejr!



More information.

Never played this online actually... Was this a big thing ?

Weird, it wouldn't even ever occur to me to attempt to play a game like this online. I'm also curious to know if anyone actually did so.

I tried it years ago, once or twice, after I first finished the base game campaign (before the DLCs went out, so you can wonder how many years that was )

I remember that we had points to buy/assemble our team and, of course, more powerful units will cost you more points (though we can create a custom match with No Point Limit). I think XCOM2 multiplayer is not that special or remarkable, it was never the main attraction on this game, far from it!

(Carnifex, I understand my comment here is not much of an answer you're looking for your question above)

As for the Challenge Mode (brought by War of The Chosen expansion), which will be shut down as well, I never ever tried it.

I understand why they're doing this. It costs them money and resources to maintain a service like this alive, and since you don't pay a monthly fee to Firaxis to play these modes then you do the math. Again, honestly IMHO it doesn't make much difference whether the game has a multiplayer mode or not, this wasn't the game's main selling point. I once wanted to do MP only to get the Steam Achievements, but long ago I gave these up.

I never realized XCOM 2 had a multiplayer mode. Did XCOM EU have it as well?

Good riddance, so many games have multiplayer tacked on when all we want is a good campaign, there are plenty of dedicated multiplayer games available for those who like that crap.

JDR13 said:

I never realized XCOM 2 had a multiplayer mode. Did XCOM EU have it as well?

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According to XCOM Fandom Wiki, yes it does.

Consider me flummoxed. Well, I hope too many people weren't negatively affected by the change.

shamroxor said:

Good riddance, so many games have multiplayer tacked on when all we want is a good campaign, there are plenty of dedicated multiplayer games available for those who like that crap.

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Agreed, but it's just getting shut down for civ 6 many years after release so apparently there was demand for 5+ years. Nothing about this suggests that they've learned anything and will avoid this idiocy in the next round of civ.

IMO, the amount of bugs and hassle MP adds to a game is only worth it for games where some significant number of players will play online, not where maybe 10% or less even know or care that it exists.

I think there was an MP community but still a tiny fraction of the overall Civ6 population and Civ is really more war game with extreme baggage than anything when played MP from what I've seen - played completely differently and in a way that to me barely resembles civ. Most of the time, anyways. There's probably a barely ever existent sliver of people who play civ MP in some kind of "civilized" way

I don't care much about multiplayer in these games, but I must say it sickens me that you need servers to play coop or versus.
This is stupid design made only so that they track stuff, and left many games without working multiplayer features and diminishes the product that we paid.
For example, I can still play Diablo 2 with friends without internet, can't do that with D3…