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

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.

67
playing now
95%
positive of 4.0k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam rating
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)
$4.99
steam price (US)

67 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 17:00 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
  • · 67 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 14% of 5,933 Strategy games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-30

Estimated sales: 160k–319k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 3,992 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$1.49-75%
lowest across shops (ITAD)$4.27-14%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.07 at Fanatical (2026-08-03) · bundled 4×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $5.99 · on sale 44 of 57 observed days · $0.42 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

67202026-08-06 21:00 — 48 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 27 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 33 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 52 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 30 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 51 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 37 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 29 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 47 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 55 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 23 players2026-08-10 13:00 — 27 players2026-08-10 21:00 — 40 players2026-08-11 05:00 — 23 players2026-08-11 13:00 — 31 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 47 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 25 players2026-08-15 12:00 — 37 players2026-08-16 20:00 — 62 players2026-08-18 04:00 — 20 players2026-08-19 11:00 — 30 players2026-08-20 19:00 — 55 players2026-08-22 02:00 — 43 players2026-08-23 10:00 — 38 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 50 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 44 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 28 players2026-08-28 17:00 — 51 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 50 players2026-08-30 17:00 — 67 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$5.99$1.242015-01-012026-08-302015-01-01 — 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 $1.242026-08-30 — best price $1.49
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Player tags

1990'sAliensSci-fiClassicStrategyTacticalDifficultIsometricOld SchoolTurn-Based

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗