14 DAY TRIAL // X-COM creator Julian Gollop says that the Chryssalid, one of the most emblematic enemies seen in the game, was created by accident after the team considered and rejected a number of other potential designs.
Speaking during a 2013 Game Developers Conference session that was attended by Joystiq, he said that, “I very quickly had this idea that a Chryssalid would infect your soldiers, and this would turn them into zombies, which would then sprout new Chryssalids, and probably created the most annoying monster in the entire game.”
The developer talked about the X-COM enemies that didn’t make the cut, which included a least one giant bunny that could have been terrifying to face.
Gollop also revealed that his game was set for cancelation during 2013, after its initial publisher was acquired by another company.
The series was revived during 2012 by Firaxis and the developer praised the experience offered by XCOM: Enemy Unknown.