Xenonauts on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Xenonauts is a strategy game in which you control a multi-national military organisation defending a Cold War-era Earth from alien invasion, using small squads of persistent soldiers to eliminate the extraterrestrials and recover their technology in turn-based ground combat.
Xenonauts is a turn-based strategy, turn-based tactics and turn-based combat game
developed and published by Goldhawk Interactive.
Released on June 16th 2014 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 4,889 reviews of which 4,265 were positive and 624 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.4 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 22.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 13.50€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified Xenonauts into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *:Windows 8 / 7 SP1 / Vista SP2
- Processor:Intel 2 GHz
- Memory:1 GB RAM
- Graphics:Integrated Graphics
- Hard Drive:3 GB HD space
- Sound:Integrated
- Monitor:1280x720 pixels minimum
MacOS
- OS:OSX 10.6 or better
- Processor:Intel 2 GHz
- Memory:1 GB RAM
- Graphics:Integrated Graphics
- Hard Drive:3 GB HD space
- Sound:Integrated
- Monitor:1280x720 pixels minimum
Linux
- OS:Any Linux distribution since 2010
- Processor:Intel 2 GHz
- Memory:1 GB RAM
- Graphics:Integrated Graphics
- Hard Drive:3 GB HD space
- Sound:Integrated
- Monitor:1280x720 pixels minimum
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
In brief: highly competent remake of Gollop's X-COM with solid community mod support. An understated classic, though probably too old-school for the younger generation. Way back in 1994, an up-and-coming game designer named Julian Gollop led the independent Mythos Games studio in the development of X-COM:Enemy Unknown . That game became a global success and launched a franchise which has seen sequels, cash-ins, reboots, and imitators both good and bad ever since. The most famous is of course the Firaxis reboot XCOM from 2012 (note lack of hyphen), though the most recent and most significant is 2019's Phoenix Point , which is Gollop's own next step in the saga (and which I strongly recommend). In 2014, a full 20 years after the original, a new indie studio named Goldhawk Interactive published something that was not quite remake and not quite reboot - very close to the original, but different in plot and presentation. Xenonauts borrowed the core concepts from X-COM whilst ignoring the various releases in between; in particular, they did not take anything from Firaxis' XCOM , so fans of that game should be aware that you will not find the same experience here. What you will find is no cutscenes, no FMV, no voiceovers, and no Magic 4 Supermen. Instead, you will find a gritty and unforgiving secret war simulator with beautifully clean lines and very solid mechanics. Xenonauts locates its action in 1979, drawing on the paranoid and fearful atmosphere of the Cold War. The game's text-delivered backstory briefly explains that alien incursions began decades earlier and created a new fear for a set of world governments already staring each other down over the barrels of their ICBMs. Now, an alien fleet has moved into Earth orbit and is reconfiguring its spacecraft for atmospheric operations; abductions and random attacks have begun, people are scared, and the lack of mutual trust amongst the world's governments results in a disjointed response. The only coherency comes from the Xenonauts, an organisation formed clandestinely outside of formal military structures. The game presents the same global/local dualism of the original with a real-time Geoscape and Battlescape missions played in turns. The Geoscape is more dynamic than the original: reports of attacks and atrocities pop up here and there, providing hints about alien activity which your interceptors can make use of. As in the original, you begin with a single base with limited radar coverage and only a couple of standard fighter jets plus a platoon of soldiers and their transport chopper. The alien craft are similarly basic at first, but they soon develop; the player needs to keep pace by hiring scientists and building labs for them so they can research vehicle and weapon upgrades, then hiring engineers and building workshops for them so they can build the products of that research. Additional bases should be constructed, and the player is required to think carefully about location and coverage in order to maximise their investments. Aerial clashes with UFOs result in shootdowns, and it's also possible to catch alien craft when they land. The air war is crucial to success, and requires close attention from the player - there are no big honking warning signs, you must use the information available to direct your meagre forces. Hitting a crash/landing site with a chopper full of troops results in a Battlescape mission in which your squaddies must kill or capture the surviving alien crew, after which the wreckage and its artefacts can be salvaged and (in part) sold off to increase funds. Captures of aliens and artefacts feed your research options and are essential to progress through the game's plot. New options emerge from research in terms of weapons, armour, light tanks, transport and attack planes, base facilities, and so on, until the ultimate solutions to the alien problem finally emerge. By 2014, Open X-COM was well developed and the flaws of the original were fully understood. Goldhawk did a competent job of presenting a Battlescape similar in style but trimmed of its clunks and sharp corners. That doesn't mean they made the game easy (unlike Firaxis); Xenonauts is hard, requiring abundant caution and a willingness to sacrifice from the player. Maximum squad size ranges from 8 to 16, plus light vehicles, and you will need to use all that capacity, because people are gonna get killed along the way. This is a tactics game, and sacrifice is a tactic. The aliens have many advantages: they see perfectly in the dark, some have longer sight ranges than your troops, some have very accurate weapons, some can absorb terrifying amounts of punishment before going down. You must apply proper tactical principles to succeed: avoid overstretch, always aim to outnumber, use cover and smoke and manipular movement, and never make assumptions about what you're facing. The vibe of this game - exactly like the original - is of approaching blind corners with the sole surety of something nasty lying in wait. The game as originally published wasn't perfect. Its writing was serviceable rather than good. It was still enjoyable, and could be played to its conclusion, but the version which emerged as the Community Edition - essentially a sanctioned modding process which became a collaboration between fan-coders and studio - is very solid, very well-written, and remains one of the best squad tactics simulators I've ever played. It's not all that pretty, it's certainly not flashy, and it rarely polishes your ego. The music is understated and menacing, not bombastic. The soldiers' outfits are mundane and functional, not hench-looking and awesome. There is a chance-to-hit system which you do have to take seriously - 90% chance to hit means 10% chance to miss, and nobody should ever forget that. If you're relying on your one star uber-sniper to wipe the board for you, you'll lose, simple as that. I've played this game a lot ever since it first came out. I'm reviewing it now because the sequel is due out soon, and people may come looking at this one to check its antecedents. I won't speak for the sequel here - at time of writing I've only played the demo - but I will say this: play Xenonauts , by which I mean this one. If you can live without flashy graphics and FMV you'll find a genuine example of solid, clean-cut game design which doesn't mollycoddle the player. You will have to read the manual, as it doesn't do tooltips. You will have to accept defeats as well as victories. If you're equal to that task, you will find a true challenge with true spirit and a satisfying plot trajectory. If you want whizz-bangs and Batman-style gravelly narration, you should head back to the Firaxis webpage, kid.
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If you've ever wondered what X-COM: UFO defense might look like if it were remade with modern polish but without losing its soul, Xenonauts is the answer. The strategic layer is old-school. You're managing a global defense network, building bases, intercepting UFOs and researching alien tech. Basically the same as we've seen in UFO defence. The tactical combat is where Xenonauts shines. it's gritty, and unforgiving. Soldiers are vulnerable, line of sight matters, cover is your best friend, and a single wrong move can spiral into disaster. There's no cinematics here, just tight tactical gameplay that requires real thought. And when a plan comes together, it feels earned. A huge part of the appeal for me was the atmosphere. The Cold War aesthetic gives the game a unique identity, and the grounded, militaristic tone makes the alien invasion feel real. It's not a flashy game, but it nails the mood. This isn’t a game for everyone. It doesn’t have the slickness of newer XCOM titles, and it doesn’t try to. But if you wish for a spiritual successor so the original UFO defence then this is it.
Expand the review
After going through around 100 hours of gameplay, failing miserably for the first 60, using a guide on my next run, failing miserably again, and then finally succeeding, I'd mostly recommend this game, it's like Xcom UFO defence, the old one, though there's a few grievances I have, For one, the machineguns in the game have wicked spread that isn't shown in the preview of where your shots will go, and will frequently tag and kill teammates that stand within a good 25 degree cone in front of your machinegunners. In certain parts of some maps, there are spots where aliens can see you, but you cannot see them, even if both of you are within visual range of one another, some bits and corners of the map like to hide things around them that you can't properly see, but they can. A few of the techs are usually best to skip, but I think the same is true in the original Xcom And there's a "suppression" mechanic which isn't a grievance, but it does stray from original Xcoms and goes more into xcom enemy unknown/xcom 2 style of things. Otherwise, it's largely similar to the original Xcom, albeit, more grounded and realistic in its worldbuilding and tech. Apart from that, it's pretty much Xcom UFO defence, and borrows quite heavily from it, with some of its own twists and such.
Expand the review
One of my favorite tactics games, simply because it gives you a lot of freedom. For example, if you are in a rough spot it's entirely viable to stop trying to kill the aliens normally and just starting blowing them all up with RPGs (which destroys loot but hey your guys will survive). Also really enjoyed the final mission where my entire squad of elite giga-chads died to fight their way to the final boss, who was then killed by the one rookie on the mission before he too succumbed. Kino.
Expand the review
A tiny 3GB game that consists of over 100,000 files and takes forever to install. Not suitable for external USB storage.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Xenonauts is currently priced at 22.99€ on Steam.
Xenonauts is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 22.99€ on Steam.
Xenonauts received 4,265 positive votes out of a total of 4,889 achieving a rating of 8.44.
😎
Xenonauts was developed and published by Goldhawk Interactive.
Xenonauts is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Xenonauts is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Xenonauts is playable and fully supported on Linux.
Xenonauts is a single-player game.
Xenonauts does not currently offer any DLC.
Xenonauts does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Xenonauts does not support Steam Remote Play.
Xenonauts is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Xenonauts.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 06 April 2026 02:03 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 05 April 2026 14:45 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2026 04:43 |
| Steam reviews | 12 April 2026 11:52 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Xenonauts, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Xenonauts
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Xenonauts concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Xenonauts compatibility
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Game modes
Features
Online players
80
Developer
Goldhawk Interactive
Publisher
Goldhawk Interactive
Release
16 Jun 2014
Platforms
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