Once combat starts, player-controlled units and computer-controlled enemies take turns based on their position through a mixed player-enemy turn order, a system which the game calls 'interleaved turns'. Different entry points present different bonuses and challenges for players, and players can split their units across multiple entry points. 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. Each mission may have multiple separate combat segments. Once players initiate a combat mission, they choose which of the playable characters will participate. 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.

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 game is divided between turn-based tactical combat and management of the squad's non-combat activities. Each character has unique abilities, replacing character classes from previous installments in the franchise.

The player takes control of a squad of eleven characters, both human and alien, that form Chimera Squad. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on April 24, 2020. While Chimera Squad follows similar tactical elements of the XCOM series, it introduces new gameplay concepts to accelerate the pace of gameplay. The player controls a mixed squad of human and alien special forces soldiers that help maintain the fragile peace of City 31, an experimental city where humans and aliens are attempting cohabitation. It is set as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, after a tenuous peace accord between warring human and alien forces has been achieved. XCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games as part of the XCOM series.

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