Fans of the traditional XCOM games that were offput by 2K Marin's upcoming first person shooter take on the franchise now have a new hope as 2K have revealed that Civilization developer Firaxis Games are working on a new strategy offering titled XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Released in 1993, the original X-COM is widely regarded as one of the best games ever made and has now been re-imagined by the strategy experts at Firaxis Games. XCOM: Enemy Unknown will expand on that legacy with an entirely new invasion story, enemies and technologies to fight aliens and defend Earth. Players will control the fate of the human race through researching alien technologies, creating and managing a fully operational base, planning combat missions and controlling soldier movement in battle.

“It’s been a dream of ours to recreate X-COM with our unique creative vision. We’re huge fans of the original game and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-envision a game that is as beloved as X-COM,” said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games. “We were careful to keep XCOM: Enemy Unknown true to the elements that made X-COM such a revered game while delivering an entirely new story and gameplay experience for both die-hard X-COM fans and newcomers to the franchise.”

Unfortunately 2K are going the Game Informer exclusive route for further reveals and media from the game, so we'll have to wait for the print mag cycle to find out more. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is earmarked for a 2012 launch on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.