1993: MicroProse was acquired by Spectrum Holobyte.

UFO: Enemy Unknown / X-COM: UFO Defense
Released in: 1993

This is the first X-COM game, also known as 'UFO' or 'X-COM 1'. Created by Mythos Games and published by Microprose, this was the beginning of a new legend.

X-COM: Terror From The Deep
Released in: 1995

Following the massive success of the first X-COM game, Microprose wanted to do a second one. However, Mythos didn't want to release a sequel that fast, especially knowing that the game itself was basically the same as the first one, except only this time you play underwater. So, X-COM: Terror From The Deep was developed solely by Microprose and was released as fast as it was possible. Again, the game was a hit.

Some complained that the game was copied from the first one, and others like me were initiated to the genre and became addicted to the X-COM series.

X-COM: Apocalypse
Released in: 1997

Mythos was back in this new strategy game full of surprises, good and bad altogether. Mythos wanted to introduce the "real time play" to X-COM, however the mode was not developed enough for several reasons when the game was released. A new story, this time inside a city, new political interested to look in, and a tougher game than the previous two, this game has us by the balls once you start playing it. I still remember all those nights staying up so that I could research a new alien building.

Mythos and Microprose had given us a totally new approach to the game with their Mega Primus, and while I guess that the city idea is still in debate today, fans started to like the "retro" idea of coming back to the first game, and so the Genesis project was born.

X-COM: Interceptor
Released in: 1998

The first game to leave the turned based or real - time strategy genre was Interceptor. Now a flight SIM, the games still hooked it's players to the X-COM essentials: funding, bases, stores, equipment, ships, a tactical display (replacing the geosphere) and missions.

At this point, Mythos didn't like were Microprose was going with the licence and decided to sell it to them. When this game was released, the fan's attention was brought down to one fact: it was the first multiplayer X-COM game. This new asset was going to make the game profitable, but fans knew what they wanted... And while we were all playing over and over our games, the initial Microprose team that worked on UFO: Defense was slowly working on their project called Genesis.

X-COM: Collector's Edition (USA release)
Released in:1998

This so-called special edition was supposed to gather up the initial 3 games, suited up so they could work on the latest hardware & software environments. However, the impact was minimal, as computers and their operating system changed so rapidly that the collector's edition soon became obsolete once again. Note that The team who reworked the games is the team that was working on Genesis. The Genesis project was officially abandoned one month later. Another version of the Collector's edition came out the year after for Europe including all X-COM titles released so far.

Email Games: X-COM
Released in: 1999

Slowly fading away from the true legend, Microprose tried to release a small budget multiplayer version of a turned based X-COM called Email X-COM. Although the game was not stepping forward in terms of graphics and interface, it gave us fans something to chew on while we waited for the big pieces of meat... Genesis, alliance & Freedom Ridge. The email game was running on a server that later was shutdown in 2001, however it is still possible to play today.

On December 07 1999, the Genesis project was cancelled out because Microprose was sold to Hasbro Interactive, closing the Chapel Hill Studio in North Carolina and Alameda Studios in California, putting almost 2200 employees to the street. Among these hard workers was the X-COM team. Hasbro said that they would continue to work on the title, but nothing has been heard of since this date.

In 2000, Mythos wanted to please the fans that were now desperate for a new "real" X-COM game, and announced they were working on a title called Dreamland Chronicles : Freedom Ridge. Although the game didn't have X-COM written in it, it was written all over it.

Fans were waiting in the meantime for X-COM Alliance, but rapidly the project came to an end. Although this game had been in development since the mid-90's, there has been a lot of issues what continuously slowed down the progress of the game. Then Hasbro decided to pull the plug, after clearing up issues with inter-office communications (Some said the project was abandoned, other said it was still on...) The final word? Hasbro asked the Alliance Team to work on a cheaper, watered down version, called Enforcer.

Early in 2001, Mythos was seeing it's new project falling apart when Virgin (who co-funded the development of The Dreamland Chronicles with Bethesda), decided to cut their funding, stating that they didn't like what they saw. According to Bethesda, Mythos' first graphics engine was unsatisfactory and so Mythos scrapped the engine and commenced on a new one. Unfortunately, the second one was no better, and so Virgin removed the project's funding altogether. That was the end of Mythos Games. The team is now known under the name of Codo Technologies. and has released a game called Laser Squad Nemesis.

X-COM: Enforcer
Released in: 2001

Enforcer is the last game of the franchise to bear the name X-COM. However, to true fans, it's not an X-COM game. Although we can relate to the series's familiar alien faces, everything else has nothing to do with the mentality of X-COM. The game was a flop, and Habro Interactive has let the X-COM licence go down under.

That same year, Hasbro Interactive was sold to Infogrames. Then Infogrames has bought Atari and the remaining Microprose offices were closed by Infogrames, now known as Atari. Atari now controls the X-COM licence.

In december 2001, Altair Interactive announced that they were taking over Mythos' project, and it became UFO: Aftermath. The game was released in late 2003.