The Game Census
X-COM: UFO Defense cover art

X-COM: UFO Defense

MicroProse Software, Inc · 2K · 2008-09-04

SteamGOG

Strategy

Franchise: X-COM · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: 1994 (Amiga CD32), 1994 (DOS), Sep 04, 2008 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Q2 1994 (Amiga), Nov 1995 (PlayStation)

You are in control of X-COM: an organization formed by the world's governments to fight the ever-increasing alien menace.

X-COM: UFO Defense is a Strategy game released in 2008, priced at $4.99, with an estimated 1,000,000 .. 2,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (95% of 3992 reviews).

24
playing now
95%
positive of 4.0k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
85/100
IGDB user rating (134 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$4.99
steam price (US)

24 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

UFO: Enemy Unknown, also known as X-COM: UFO Defense in North America, is a 1994 science fiction strategy video game developed by Mythos Games and MicroProse. It was published by MicroProse for DOS and Amiga computers, the Amiga CD32 console, and the PlayStation. Originally planned by Julian Gollop as a sequel to Mythos Games' 1988 Laser Squad, the game mixes real-time management simulation with turn-based tactics. The player takes the role of commander of X-COM – an international paramilitary and scientific organisation secretly defending Earth from an alien invasion. Through the game, the player is tasked with issuing orders to individual X-COM troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. At strategic scale, the player directs the research and development of new technologies, builds and expands X-COM's bases, manages the organisation's finances and personnel, and monitors and responds to UFO activity.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 24 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 96 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~12/week).
  • · Review velocity up 1% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 6% of 14,087 Strategy games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-30

Estimated sales: 160k–321k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 4,008 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$1.49-75%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.05 at AllYouPlay (2026-09-17) · bundled 4×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $5.99 · on sale 65 of 95 observed days · $0.44 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
393920182026Week of 2018-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

68182026-09-15 12:00 — 31 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 42 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 28 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 40 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 63 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 28 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 19 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 52 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 30 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 31 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 39 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 35 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 25 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 36 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 49 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 20 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 33 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 45 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 25 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 44 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 68 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 29 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 24 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
24030Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 136 · peak 249Dec 2012 — avg 78 · peak 166May 2013 — avg 39 · peak 81Oct 2013 — avg 57 · peak 171Mar 2014 — avg 33 · peak 76Aug 2014 — avg 45 · peak 101Jan 2015 — avg 44 · peak 101Jun 2015 — avg 53 · peak 126Nov 2015 — avg 36 · peak 79Apr 2016 — avg 37 · peak 82Sep 2016 — avg 33 · peak 79Feb 2017 — avg 98 · peak 336Jul 2017 — avg 39 · peak 75Dec 2017 — avg 43 · peak 92May 2018 — avg 36 · peak 78Oct 2018 — avg 34 · peak 74Mar 2019 — avg 35 · peak 76Aug 2019 — avg 38 · peak 69Jan 2020 — avg 43 · peak 92Jun 2020 — avg 44 · peak 92Nov 2020 — avg 43 · peak 87Apr 2021 — avg 41 · peak 84Sep 2021 — avg 41 · peak 78Feb 2022 — avg 43 · peak 93Jul 2022 — avg 38 · peak 76Dec 2022 — avg 45 · peak 88May 2023 — avg 34 · peak 71Oct 2023 — avg 37 · peak 74Mar 2024 — avg 47 · peak 100Aug 2024 — avg 40 · peak 80Jan 2025 — avg 40 · peak 82Jun 2025 — avg 37 · peak 78Nov 2025 — avg 41 · peak 83Apr 2026 — avg 53 · peak 114Aug 2026 — avg 39 · peak 80
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$5.99$1.242015-01-012026-10-142015-01-01 — best price $1.502016-06-07 — best price $1.652016-12-23 — best price $1.242017-06-21 — best price $5.992017-09-12 — best price $4.992017-10-25 — best price $4.992017-12-28 — best price $3.992018-02-19 — best price $4.992018-06-22 — best price $1.642018-07-16 — best price $3.992018-09-03 — best price $4.992018-10-23 — best price $3.992018-12-13 — best price $1.492019-05-21 — best price $5.992019-10-07 — best price $5.992020-01-27 — best price $4.992020-03-24 — best price $4.592020-06-02 — best price $4.592020-11-02 — best price $5.992021-02-10 — best price $1.492021-07-19 — best price $5.992021-12-13 — best price $1.492022-03-21 — best price $1.242022-06-28 — best price $5.992022-11-22 — best price $1.242023-02-13 — best price $1.492023-05-01 — best price $4.992023-11-28 — best price $4.992024-03-21 — best price $4.992024-07-11 — best price $4.992024-11-27 — best price $1.242025-05-21 — best price $5.992025-10-07 — best price $1.492026-01-23 — best price $1.492026-04-24 — best price $5.992026-08-13 — best price $1.242026-09-08 — best price $1.492026-09-23 — best price $5.992026-10-08 — best price $5.992026-10-14 — best price $1.49
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

4801432026-06-01 — 188 pageviews2026-06-05 — 204 pageviews2026-06-09 — 173 pageviews2026-06-13 — 159 pageviews2026-06-17 — 164 pageviews2026-06-21 — 183 pageviews2026-06-25 — 201 pageviews2026-06-29 — 198 pageviews2026-07-03 — 173 pageviews2026-07-07 — 163 pageviews2026-07-11 — 181 pageviews2026-07-15 — 180 pageviews2026-07-19 — 202 pageviews2026-07-23 — 174 pageviews2026-07-27 — 242 pageviews2026-07-31 — 169 pageviews2026-08-04 — 204 pageviews2026-08-08 — 176 pageviews2026-08-12 — 256 pageviews2026-08-16 — 191 pageviews2026-08-20 — 214 pageviews2026-08-24 — 258 pageviews2026-08-28 — 480 pageviews2026-09-01 — 386 pageviews2026-09-05 — 360 pageviews2026-09-09 — 236 pageviews2026-09-13 — 254 pageviews2026-09-17 — 185 pageviews2026-09-21 — 211 pageviews2026-09-25 — 210 pageviews2026-09-29 — 217 pageviews2026-10-03 — 196 pageviews2026-10-07 — 210 pageviews2026-10-11 — 157 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

1990'sAliensSci-fiClassicStrategyTacticalDifficultIsometricOld SchoolTurn-Based

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

X-COM: Terror From the DeepX-COM: ApocalypseX-COM: InterceptorOriginal WarEnemy FrontXCOM® 2ENDLESS Legend™ENDLESS Space™ 2

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗