Everyone is wrong, it's not separate timelines or anything, the Canon ending for Xcom Enemy Unknown/Within is that Humans lost.

Based on the nightmare difficulty or whatever, where fewer than 1% of people have the steam Achievement for completing the game on Nightmare.

XCOM 2 takes place in a reality where XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within didn't happen. Aliens came and took over, weren't defeated

the idea is that this is the sequal to every game you have ever lost
a "what happened in those universes" kinda thing

Okay if that's the canon, but what bothers me... if they lost within first month then you've never proven to be a legendary commander, so why would they put their hope in you?

You don't get to be the commander of an elite team of alien hunters by chance. You were most likely a war veteran, showing amazing tactical prowess, that did substantially better defending against the UFO threat than your peers.

its been confirmed that fireaxis said its a different timeline.
hell it was on the website.

I suppose you're right

That's cause the XCOM you probably know and love is like, smack dab in the middle of the timeline. There's like, 2 XCOM games from the 90s iirc that come after XCOM. One of them takes you to mars and you end up doing something that makes cohabitation possible.

I mean, you can kinda quote me, but I don't know the details.

think "Canon is ironman impossible run"

The second game takes place in a separate timeline than the first. Basically, if you lost the first Xcom then Xcom 2 takes place after you lost.

Well, it ended with the humans destroying the alien's leaders and their HQ-thing, but I guess there were alien remnants still around? Or maybe there was another invasion? Or this could be some kind of new plot started by humans, like the alien supports whose name I forgot in Enemy Within? I've been trying to avoid spoilers, but I have a theory based on that trailer that the "aliens" are (at least some) genetically enhanced humans.

I think Xcom 2 takes place in a separate timeline than the first.

It doesn't. The game makers were just like "We're gonna make like 5 games in the 90s and then come out with a modern XCOM and place it smack dab in the middle of the timeline.". So there are some games that take place afterwards.

So you're missing some key points between XCOM and XCOM 2 if you don't play the 90s games.

I thought I read something somewhere that they were going full reboot... Oh well. This just gives me an excuse to actually finish the old ones.

Where'd you find this out?

I saw them on steam. Looked them up.

It connects them all.

He didn't, he's just making stuff up. The old 90s series is irrelevant, it happened in another universe or something, not this one. www.pcgamer.com/xcom-enemy-within-isnt-part-of-xcom-2s-timeline/

That article doesn't even register the 90s games. How can it be a valid article if it ignores half the games?

I mean, we could probably argue about this all night. But I'm gonna go to bed.

Before I hit the hay, my friend wouldn't let me go, and I found this which is a gamespot video with one of the designers about the history of the game. Maybe he'll say.

www.gamespot.com/videos/the-crazy-history-of-the-x-com-series/2300-6427484/

Night for real.

I'll take a look at it, thank you! Go the **** to bed.

You win: www.pcgamesn.com/xcom-2/xcom-2-will-ignore-your-progression-in-xcom-enemy-unknown

I read all the lore before this article. So in my head it was canon that the 90s games were part of the timeline.

I couldn't sleep. This was bugging me. GOOD NIGHT FOR REAL AGAIN!

I wish. I think it was when the Bureau was in development that they specified that there were 3 XCOM universes. (90s, EU, and the Buereau.) GOOD NIGHT SWEET TIGHT.

Through easter eggs not confirmed to be canon. And if it was connected, that would be incredibly sad on XCOM's part; Bureau and EU take place 50 years apart, and they had no knowledge of an alien attack, despite surviving through one before? They didn't save ANY of the weapons from 50 years ago that were still better than what they were fielding in 2015?