For right now it's been confirmed that XCOM 2 is only scheduled to arrive on PC as an exclusive. However, it might be a timed exclusive because the developers haven't completely ruled out a release on Microsoft and Sony's eighth-gen consoles.
According to an interview with IGN, creative director Jack Solomon mentioned to IGN that the team at Firaxis Games aren't opposed to porting XCOM 2 to home consoles but at the moment they're just focused on the PC. Why? Because they can't afford to be stretched thin working on a multiplatform game and trying to scale the assets and features from PC to PS4 to Xbox One. Firaxis is a small team and they want to work on doing the best they can with the capabilities and power of a PC.
According to Solomon...
When we have our meetings, when we talk about stuff, we only talk about PC, […] We talk about ‘What is the experience like on PC? What does the mouse feel like in this experience?
They also discuss what they wanted to do for the sequel of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. A lot of the features are PC-exclusive when taken as a combined effort, such as high-fidelity characters and environments, more physics-based destruction, physically-based light rendering and a bunch of other features that are now very common place in PC gaming.
Of course, if you're attempting to build a game for multiple systems you run into the problem of having to restrict that vision to the lowest common denominator, which in this case would be the Xbox One. Whatever they couldn't pull off on the visual side of things would have to stay on the back burner or added in later on the PC side as a post-release patch. There's also the option of someone within the modding community doing what Boris Vorontsov or Hayssam Keilany have excelled at and release a graphics overhaul patch, similar to the ENB or iCEnhancer mods for GTA IV and GTA V. However, this time around Firaxis figured they could capture the glory the first time out and do it right with a whole lot of sparks and flair.
Many gamers are hoping for a return to item management, as well as increased on-field soldier counts and of course a lot more options in the Geoscape section of the game, something that was kind of lacking in the original outing of XCOM. For those who don't know, the Geoscape module was where all the diplomatic, research, scouting and base building took place. Many old-school fans are hoping that an extended and more advanced version of the Geoscape is featured in the sequel to XCOM.
As for the game itself, XCOM 2 will take players into a different direction from what they're used to in the series. This time around players will be on the run as XCOM operatives. They'll have a mobile base and attempt to go around working as freedom fighters against the alien occupiers. Players will have to stage hit-and-run style attacks and recruit new members to the fight while freeing various cities from the alien invaders. It's an ambitious take on the series and has the potential to be quite popular with PC gamers when it releases this fall.
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