New Firaxis project revealed at Gamescom, may be XCOM game

Firaxis Games is working on an unannounced project that will be revealed at Gamescom, publisher 2K Games confirmed to Polygon today, and it may be the next entry in the XCOM franchise.

Gamescom 2013 runs Aug. 21-25 in Cologne, Germany.

"Fans will be able to get hands-on time on the Consumer Showfloor with The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, NBA 2K14 and WWE 2K14, [and see] a hands-off presentation of the currently unannounced project from Firaxis Games," said a 2K representative to Polygon over email.

The project may be called XCOM: Enemy Within — listings with that title appeared on the Korean ratings board earlier this week and were spotted by CVG. The ratings board lists Enemy Within releases on Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and describes it as a strategic third-person shooter. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, which is in development at 2K Marin and will be released Aug. 20, is also a tactical third-person shooter.

Firaxis, which developed XCOM: Enemy Unknown and released it last fall, teased a new XCOM project during its PAX East panel this past March with an ominous message from a figure described only as the "councilman." Jake Solomon, lead designer of Enemy Unknown, said at the time that the studio wasn't going to discuss the project for a while.