XCOM® 2
Give it 20 hours
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (60%); after 35h it's 1 in 12 (8%).
- Fully opens up by hour 35.
- The opening is criticised more than in 89% of games we track.
- 38% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “A Grim Key” (Recover a Codex Brain) and “A Better Human Being” (Recover the Forge Item): from 70% to 49% of starters.
- 80% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 110,200 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 60.6h for positive, 9h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (80.2% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Rise of the Resistance Make contact with a region 84% −16
- A Horrible Truth Recover the Blacksite Data 71% −13
- A Grim Key Recover a Codex Brain 70% −2
- A Better Human Being Recover the Forge Item Most players quit here 49% −20
- A Dark Doorway Recover the Psi Gate 47% −2
- A Line Crossed Complete the Avatar Autopsy 43% −4
- A Final Stand Create the Commander's Avatar 40% −3
- Earth Avenged Overthrow the aliens at any difficulty level 38% −2
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (88)
story milestone ending side
- First Blood Complete the tactical tutorial 100%
- Like Clockwork Complete a successful ambush 96%
- Rumor Hunter Complete a Rumor 94%
- Locked and Loaded Upgrade a weapon 86%
- Rise of the Resistance Make contact with a region 84%
- Come Back To Me Kill a Sectoid who is currently mind controlling a squadmate 79%
- Breathing Room Kill a Viper who is strangling a squadmate 73%
- A Horrible Truth Recover the Blacksite Data 71%
- With Extreme Prejudice Skulljack an ADVENT Officer 71%
- Car Wrecked Cause an enemy to die in a vehicle explosion 70%
- Tinker Build an experimental item in the Proving Grounds 70%
- A Grim Key Recover a Codex Brain 70%
- Room to Grow Upgrade a facility 69%
- Heroes of the Resistance Beat a Retaliation mission with no more than 3 civilian deaths 68%
- Rebel Radio Build Resistance Comms 68%
- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Apply a PCS upgrade to a soldier 67%
- Now Am I Become Death Kill 3 enemies in a single turn, with a single soldier, without explosives 65%
- Cyberlord Earn a second tier hack reward 63%
- Bring It Down Sabotage an alien facility 61%
- Codebreaker Build the Shadow Chamber 61%
- Have a Nice Trip Cause an enemy to fall to its death 59%
- A God Falls Kill an Avatar 50%
- A Better Human Being Recover the Forge Item 49%
- Meat Over Metal Kill a Sectopod on the same turn you encounter it 49%
- Pile 'Em Up Kill 500 aliens. (does not have to be in same game) 48%
- A Dark Doorway Recover the Psi Gate 47%
- Mechlord Hack and take control of a Sectopod 46%
- A New Alliance Complete the Lost and Abandoned mission 44%
- A Line Crossed Complete the Avatar Autopsy 43%
- A Final Stand Create the Commander's Avatar 40%
- David and Goliath Kill a Berserker in melee combat 40%
- Axles to Axles, Bolts to Bolts Defeat a robotic enemy with a SPARK unit 39%
- No One Left Behind Rescue a soldier who was captured by the Chosen 39%
- Earth Avenged Overthrow the aliens at any difficulty level 38%
- Excalibur Completely upgrade a beam weapon with superior grade weapon upgrades 37%
- Stop Hitting Yourself Kill an enemy with a hacked turret 35%
- Shen's Legacy Build a facility in every Avenger slot 35%
- Viper Vanquisher Kill the Viper Ruler 34%
- Make ‘em go Boom Kill an enemy primed Derelict MEC before it can self-destruct 33%
- Just Like Dad Used To Make Build a SPARK unit 30%
- A Torch Passed Beat the Lost Towers mission 30%
- A Rival Silenced Permanently defeat one of the Chosen 30%
- Berserker Breaker Kill the Berserker Ruler 29%
- Fully Operational Resistance Raise XCOM's influence with all three factions to High in a single game 27%
- A Forbidden Experiment Investigate the Abandoned Research Facility 26%
- Born in the Darkness Get four kills from Shadow mode with a Reaper in a single mission 26%
- Archon Annihilator Kill the Archon Ruler 25%
- It Takes Two Form a level 3 bond between two soldiers 24%
- Kingslayer Kill all alien rulers in a single game 23%
- Bells and Whistles Outfit a SPARK unit with the highest tier weaponry and armor 23%
- The Sun Never Sets Build a radio relay on every continent 20%
- Nick of Time Evacuate a soldier whose bleed-out timer is still running 20%
- Shadow Broker Sell goods worth 1000 supplies to the Black Market (Can span multiple games) 20%
- Can't Stop the Fighting Perform three offensive actions against the same target with a Skirmisher in a single turn 19%
- Deadly Arsenal Purchase all of the final tier Hunter Weapons 18%
- Always be Shooting Hit three shots on a single turn with a SPARK unit after using its Overdrive ability 18%
- Regicide Kill an alien ruler the first time you encounter it 17%
- Global Resistance Get all of the continent bonuses available in a single campaign 17%
- Our New Overlords Promote a SPARK unit to Champion rank 17%
- There's A Future In The Past Complete a single player campaign with Tactical Legacy Pack content 13%
- Enemy Adopted Use a ruler armor ability against an alien ruler 11%
- Brutal Collection Skulljack each different type of ADVENT soldier (does not have to be in same game) 9.5%
- Defender of Humanity Overthrow the aliens on Commander difficulty 7.6%
- Zombies in a Barrel Get 15 Headshots against Lost in a single turn 7.6%
- Circle of Psi Raise a Templar to maximum Focus level, spend it all, and reach the max again in a single mission 7.4%
- Running on Fumes A SPARK unit survives a mission it started with less than half health 6.4%
- Matter Over Mind Defeat an Avatar with a SPARK unit 6.2%
- Overpowered Beat a mission on Commander+ with a squad composed entirely of soldiers of the same class (but not Rookie) 4.9%
- Not Throwing Away My Shot Kill an alien ruler while it attempts to escape 4.9%
- Now I Am The Master Use all ruler armor abilities in a single mission 4.4%
- The Untouchables Beat the game on Commander+ without losing a soldier 3.6%
- Rise of the Robots Complete a mission with three or more SPARK units in the squad 3.6%
- Beginner's Luck Beat a mission in June or later using only Rookies 3.0%
- Valhalla Beat the game on Commander+ difficulty in Ironman mode 2.9%
- Immortal Commander Overthrow the aliens on Legend difficulty 2.7%
- The Most Dangerous Game Win a multiplayer match. 2.6%
- The Gang's All Here Complete 'The Lazarus Project' legacy operation with a gold medal 2.2%
- Honorary Level Designer Complete a Skirmish Mission 2.2%
- Heavy Metal Kill an enemy with every heavy weapon in the game (Doesn't have to be in the same game) 2.1%
- Deja Vu All Over Again Complete the 'Blast From the Past' legacy operation with a gold medal 2.1%
- Weary Warriors Complete a mission with all Tired soldiers and no casualties 2.0%
- Fully Operational Battlestation Complete the 'Avenger Assemble' legacy operation with a gold medal 2.0%
- Playing For Score Complete a Local Challenge 1.7%
- Bug Fisherman Complete the 'It Came From the Sea' legacy operation with a gold medal 1.6%
- The Few and the Proud Beat the game on Commander+ difficulty without buying a Squad Size upgrade 1.5%
- Who Needs Tygan? Beat the final mission using only conventional gear 1.2%
- Exquisite Timing Beat the game on Commander+ difficulty by July 1st (July 15th for War of the Chosen) 1.1%
- Campaign Microcosm Complete a random legacy operation 1.1%