9 Fan-Made Mods That Make Great Video Games Even Better

7. XCOM: Enemy Within - The Long War

Knights Of The Old Republic 2 Darth Nihilus
Firaxis Games

How do you know when you've hit it big with a passion project? In the case of Pavonis Interactive, the first telling signs of success cropped up when it released The Long War, an extensive mod for Firaxis Games' XCOM: Enemy Within.

As of writing, the add-on has secured nearly one million downloads, but that just represents the icing on the cake. Impressed by The Long War's addition of new classes, extended campaign, new gear and overhauled difficulty, Firaxis recognized Pavonis' dedication by partnering with the studio for a follow-up mod of the same name for its sequel XCOM 2.

Using that initial success as a solid starting platform, Pavonis is now deep in the process of putting together its first original project: Terra Invicta. Besides being dubbed a grand strategy title, we're none the wiser as to what it'll look like in a finished state, but if it receives even half the dedication and scrutinous attention to detail that The Long War did, then strategists are in for a treat come launch.

Hard work pays off.

Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.