For veteran commanders and fresh recruits alike, the mention of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen evokes memories of heart-pounding tactical combat, brutal permadeath, and the relentless struggle against the ADVENT occupation. While the game launched to critical acclaim in 2017, it was the subsequent updates that polished the experience into a masterpiece of the strategy genre.
One pivotal moment in the game's post-launch lifecycle was the Update v20181009. Released on October 9, 2018, this patch was more than just a simple tune-up; it represented a significant stabilization of the game's engine and a refinement of the console experience, alongside crucial fixes for the PC community.
Here is a deep dive into what the v20181009 update brought to the table and why it remains a relevant milestone for the game.
By late 2018, War of the Chosen had already established itself as a massive expansion, adding the Chosen enemies, the Resistance Factions, and a litany of new soldier classes. However, the complexity of Firaxis’s code meant that players occasionally faced frustrating bugs—from targeting glitches to dreaded save corruption. xcom2warofthechosenupdatev20181009incl exclusive
The v20181009 update arrived as a "state of the game" polish, addressing lingering issues that persisted after the summer DLC drops (such as the Tactical Legacy Pack).
If you remember the "Lost LAG" of 2017, you remember hell. Update v20181009 introduced a threaded garbage collector specifically for zombie corpses. Instead of each Lost leaving a physics-enabled corpse (which tanked FPS), this patch replaces old corpses with a single decal after 3 turns. Result: The "Horde" missions on the subway map no longer dip below 20 FPS.
For PC players, v20181009 effectively delivered a "complete edition" experience by bundling all prior exclusive cosmetics into a single, unified update (provided they owned the Tactical Legacy Pack or the corresponding DLC). It transformed War of the Chosen from a tactical expansion into a comprehensive content hub, removing the frustration of locked gear from pre-order promotions. XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – The
Note: The v20181009 update is applied automatically through the game launcher (Steam, GOG, etc.) when XCOM 2 is updated to the latest version. The "exclusive" items are unlocked either via the Tactical Legacy Pack or by owning the individual DLCs listed above.
It looks like you're referencing a specific version of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (update/patch from October 9, 2018) – likely the one that included the Tactical Legacy Pack (which was previously exclusive to certain editions or pre-orders).
If you're requesting a game feature based on that specific update version, here's what that patch primarily introduced: Released on October 9, 2018, this patch was
To understand the significance of this update, we must rewind to late 2018. War of the Chosen had been out for just over a year. The initial launch (Summer 2017) was plagued by performance issues—memory leaks during the Lost horde missions, stuttering on the Geoscape, and agonizingly long load times between the Avenger and tactical layers.
By October 2018, Firaxis had released a series of hotfixes. Version 20181009 (often listed in depot manifests as build ID 3111311) represents a "goldilocks" patch. It came after the major "Tactical Legacy Pack" DLC (December 2017) but before the final, minor UI tweaks of 2019 that inadvertently broke several popular mods.
The "Incl Exclusive" tag in your keyword suggests a specific distribution—likely a release from a premium provider (like GOG, Humble Bundle, or a retail "Complete Edition" DVD) that included pre-order bonuses or region-locked content (such as the "Resistance Warrior Pack" or the "Sid Meier’s Survivor" character pool).