Firaxis on the XCOM Reboot We Never Played

EDGE is offering a snippet of a recent interview they had with Firaxis' lead designer Jake Solomon, in which Jake reveals that the strategy-specialized studio had already attempted a reboot in 2003.

Here's what little Solomon is willing to reveal about it:
Firaxis made a prototype of an XCOM reboot back in 2003. It was overseen by Jake Solomon, now lead designer at the studio. Solomon was inspired to create games at a young age by 1994 classic UFO: Enemy Unknown.

But the studio's first attempt at a reboot was unsuccessful, he told us. (It was awful. It's a good thing it never went ahead, because I was way too young, I had very little experience, and I just wasn't in the right place to make that game. It really took a long time until it made sense for the team and for the company.)