Press release

Xenonauts 2 releases into early access on July 18

Resist, repel, repeat - save humanity at all costs when the sci-fi strategy game deploys on PC this summer

June 19, 2023 - Hooded Horse is excited to share the release date for Xenonauts 2, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2014’s Xenonauts. Fight off the coming invasion when the sandbox strategy game releases into early access via PC on July 18, 2023.


Set in an alternate timeline where the Cold War never ended, players must lead a multinational organization in a coordinated effort to investigate and repel alien activity across the globe. Construct a global network of bases, arm and train elite squads to respond to incursions, and learn the enemy’s true objectives as the war for humanity’s survival escalates.

Xenonauts 2 offers complete strategic freedom in how the war progresses. Bases can be constructed anywhere around the globe and specialized in line with the player’s grand strategy. Well-placed listening posts can alert fighter bases to scramble interceptors to shoot down hostile aircraft, which the nearest garrison can investigate. The enemy won’t ignore the Xenonauts either – ensure the most critical installations are well-defended, as the enemy will seek out and attempt to destroy these bases.

Fighting the aliens takes place on multiple fronts, with air combat just as crucial as getting boots on the ground. Xenoanuts 2 offers interactive real-time aerial engagements, where entire fighter wings can engage alien ships at once. Keeping the fleet maintained and up-to-date with the latest technology is critical to the war effort.

Xenonauts 2’s detailed ground-based tactical combat offers a diverse and dangerous cast of alien invaders lurking around every corner, aided by human sympathizers trying to further the enemy’s cause. Soldiers develop skills organically based on their actions in combat, and as the organization’s technology level increases, veteran soldiers can be specialized and outfitted with cutting-edge weapons and armor. There are no classes in Xenonauts - just soldiers, and they can be customized with different loadouts depending on skill, the needs of the missions, or simply on what’s in the armory.

Xenonauts 2  is less a direct sequel and more a re-imagining of the original vision, featuring a modern engine, a new setting, and refined mechanics built for long-time fans and new strategy gamers alike.  The game will be translated into the following languages for the early access release: French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Polish, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Xenonauts 2 will release July 18, 2023 via early access for PC on 
Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store. A press kit is available.

-End-

About Hooded Horse™
Hooded Horse is a publisher of deep strategic and tactical games with people and partners worldwide. Starting in 2019 with a single title, Hooded Horse’s portfolio has grown to 22 games and counting. Our goal is to empower and support developers in doing what they love so that they can create world-class experiences for their audiences. From the distant past of Manor Lords and the haunted woods of Against the Storm, to the depths of space in Terra Invicta and Falling Frontier.

You can find out more about us on our Steam publisher page, as well as our social channels; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, and website.

About Goldhawk Interactive™

Goldhawk Interactive is a UK-based developer founded in 2011 that’s focused exclusively on Xenonauts, a series of strategy games that cover an alien invasion of Earth. The first Xenonauts was released in 2014, and Xenonauts 2 was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2018. 

You can follow the team via the official website and Discord.