Can I Run XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
Firaxis Games released XCOM: Enemy Unknown in 2012. It is a strategy game, published by 2K. It offers a single player campaign and competitive multiplayer. There are 85 achievements to chase. It handles controllers properly rather than leaving the player to bind buttons by hand. With more than 40 thousand player reviews on Steam, its behaviour on real hardware is well documented. Saves sync through Steam Cloud, so moving between machines does not cost progress. Its Metacritic score stands at 89. Builds exist for Linux as well as Windows. At more than a decade old it predates every current graphics architecture, which helps compatibility and limits how well it exploits a modern card. Steam lists support for 10 languages. An age check at 17 sits in front of the store page.
Can your PC run it? →System requirements
Minimum requirements
| CPU | 2 GHz Dual Core |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or greater |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Storage | 20 GB |
| OS | Windows Vista |
| DirectX | 9 |
Recommended requirements
| CPU | 2 GHz Dual Core (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or Athlon X2 2.7 GHz) |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 9000 series / ATI Radeon HD 3000 series or greater |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage | 20 GB |
| OS | Windows 7 |
| DirectX | 9 |
Verified from Steam · 9 Jul 2026 source
Scores are deterministic, computed by fixed rules and benchmark tables, not written by an AI. How we score. Maintained by Farhad Ali. Spotted a wrong specification? Tell us.
Setting and environment
The game is set in a science fiction setting. Play is structured around a board the player reads before committing. The publisher supplies 15 storefront screenshots of these environments.
Why XCOM: Enemy Unknown is demanding
The install is small at roughly 20 GB. System memory expectations are modest at 4 GB. The DirectX requirement is undemanding, at version 9.
This reading comes from the published requirements and our own benchmark tables, not from the store listing.
Can you run XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
XCOM: Enemy Unknown targets a mainstream modern PC: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or greater and 2 GB of RAM for the minimum, stepping up to NVIDIA GeForce 9000 series / ATI Radeon HD 3000 series or greater for the recommended experience. No single part dominates the requirements, so a balanced mid-range build clears it.
Bottleneck: CPU
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Frequently asked questions
Can my PC run XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
Upload your DxDiag file to Idxdiag's free checker and get a component by component compatibility verdict for XCOM: Enemy Unknown in seconds. No install required.
What are the minimum system requirements for XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
The minimum requirements are CPU: 2 GHz Dual Core; GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or greater; 2 GB RAM; OS: Windows Vista.
How much storage does XCOM: Enemy Unknown need?
XCOM: Enemy Unknown needs about 20 GB of available storage.
What is the bottleneck for XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
On a typical modern PC (Ryzen 5 5600, RTX 3060, 16 GB RAM), the tightest component for XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the CPU.