XCOM: Chimera Squad

The player takes control of a squad of eleven characters, both human and alien, that form Chimera Squad. Each character has unique abilities, replacing character classes from previous installments in the franchise. The game is divided between turn-based tactical combat and management of the squad's non-combat activities. These non-combat activities take place in the game's strategy layer, which allows players to modify or upgrade squad members' equipment and assign squad members to investigations. The strategy layer shows the level of unrest in each district, and failing to address that unrest leads to the city breaking out into violence.

Once players initiate a combat mission, they choose which of the playable characters will participate. Each mission may have multiple separate combat segments. Missions start in a planning phase called "breach mode", which allows players to position their units at designated points, from which they will enter the combat area. Different entry points present different bonuses and challenges for players, and players can split their units across multiple entry points.

Chimera Squad is set in City 31, a model city with humans and aliens living alongside one another. It takes place in 2040, five years after the events of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, in which the titular organization defeated ADVENT, the alien-led puppet government that ruled Earth for 20 years following an invasion. The game puts players in control of the eponymous squad, an elite peacekeeper force pitted against unknown elements that seek to destabilize City 31.

City 31's Mayor Nightingale is killed in a terrorist attack and Chimera Squad is tasked to find the culprit. During their investigation, Chimera Squad confronts three criminal factions, one at a time; The Progeny, a doomsday cult composed of individuals with psionic powers, Gray Phoenix, a street gang composed of aliens who see themselves unfit for Earth society, and Sacred Coil, a religious cult preaching salvation for those who opposed XCOM composed of former ADVENT soldiers and aliens. They eventually discover that these groups are backed by a fourth, mysterious faction, which they codename as "Atlas."

Chimera Squad's lead designer is Mark Nauta, who was a designer on XCOM 2. According to XCOM 2 lead developer Jake Solomon, the development team for Chimera Squad includes many people from the XCOM 2 team, though he himself was not part of the project. Work on Chimera Squad began after completion of the XCOM 2: War of the Chosen expansion.

Firaxis, Chimera Squad's developer, called the game "neither a sequel or expansion to XCOM 2". Nauta stated that their intention was to explore different gameplay and storytelling mechanics of the XCOM games without having to re-balance the elements within XCOM 2 or War of the Chosen. Nauta said that with Chimera Squad, they felt the changes were large enough to be challenging to experienced players, but the game's smaller scale would help draw newer players into the XCOM universe. 2K Games, the game's publisher, stated that the game's price – US$20 with a 50% discount for the first week after launch – was intended to draw new players into the series.

Chimera Squad received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 71% of critics.

One of the core changes between Chimera Squad and XCOM 2 – the replacement of randomly generated soldiers with the cast of eleven unique ones – was the subject of both praise and disappointment by critics. Ben Reeves, writing for Game Informer, praised the decision to have the characters be voiced and enjoyed the interactions that they had with one another, though Destructoid's Chris Carter found the voice acting poor and the contrast between bloody combat and lighthearted banter jarring. The characters' unique abilities and their ability to combine with other characters' powers were widely praised.