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Lead designer Jake Solomon reckons XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS is a 'happy accident'

A VERY happy accident

Lead designer Jake Solomon reckons XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS is a 'happy accident'
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iOS
| XCOM: Enemy Unknown

In an interview with Joystiq, XCOM: Enemy Unknown lead designer Jake Solomon has revealed some interesting tidbits about Firaxis's upcoming iOS port of the smash hit tactical shooter.

It turns out that the major factor in getting XCOM into the palms of your hand was the Unreal Engine. The very same technology that has been powering a whole host of iOS games since 2010.

Add to that the fact that "turn-based strategy games work really well on mobile devices", and you're left with Solomon's "happy accident".

Solomon goes on to reaffirm Firaxis's commitment to releasing the game without IAPs.

"There won't be any in-app purchases because we're going to give people this big, huge experience for an upfront price. It's a model I think core gamers are familiar with - I mean, the other model certainly works, but not for us."

XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS should be out later in the year, making it Firaxis's third mobile game of 2013 (after Haunted Hollow and the Gold Award-winning Sid Meier's Ace Patrol).

According to Solomon, the studio is very much committed to portable gaming.

"For us, we consider mobile to be another avenue for gaming and it's hard to imagine we would go forward without considering that avenue pretty strongly."

Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.