To dull the pain of so many setbacks, staff members tried to establish some normalcy and positivity in their routine.

The former members of 2K Australia that had moved to 2K Marin instituted a new pub night, which served as a vent for mounting frustrations. With team members spread across the Bay, though, the pub night never quite took hold like it had in Australia.

2K Australia never returned to the project. Having been folded under the 2K Marin label for two years, the team eventually regained the 2K Australia name and began support work on BioShock Infinite. A considerably smaller team remained in the 2K Australia office. One source was surprised the studio wasn't shuttered. Another felt its existence served as testament to 2K's determination to make its games and studios work.

Meanwhile XCOM underwent another massive reorganization. Zak McClendon, the lead designer on BioShock 2, became design director. According to multiple sources, McClendon was the man to get the job done.

Under McClendon's supervision, the various departments tried to maintain their creative spark. 2K Marin instituted rapid amounts of experimentation, testing organic enemies, crystalline enemies and "classic" enemies that mirrored those from the original XCOM. One source says 2012 was the first year the game included sectoids, a fan favorite.

2K's product development group had previously told Marin not to include the tiny gray aliens, but after the success of Firaxis's Enemy Unknown, sectoids had become a cornerstone of the brand. Suddenly sectoids were a mandate.

Still, the game wasn't progressing fast enough. The launch window was going to have to change.

In a Take-Two report from May 22, 2012, the publisher announced that it expected "to release XCOM, its shooter version of the franchise that is in development at 2K Marin, during fiscal year 2014." Some employees at Marin were convinced the project would be delayed again, perhaps to holiday 2013. In the words of one source, it "felt like a sick joke."

And then, in mid-2012, the game hit an alpha milestone.

Many team members had resisted using the word "alpha." So many alphas had been missed. First, the alpha in November 2010, then the alpha in March 2011. The word had lost its meaning.

This one felt different. According to a source, it felt like an actual alpha milestone. The game could finally be played from beginning to end. There was structure and story and a fun gameplay hook. XCOM felt like a real game.

XCOM reached beta in March 2013. Around this time 2K's publishing team began intensifying work on marketing and promotions. It created cover art. There was an ending around the bend. Some saw it. Some didn't know what they saw.

According to one source, Marin had nothing else in pre-production beyond the possibility of post-release downloadable content, and there was concern about what role the studio would play within 2K after XCOM's eventual release.

On April 15, 2013, 2K shut down XCOM's old website, causing speculation outside the studio about the game's status. On April 26, the publisher announced the game under a new title, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

In interviews with press, team members highlighted the tactical nature of the re-envisioned game, drawing comparisons to the now popular XCOM: Enemy Unknown strategy game from Firaxis — no one noted that Enemy Unknown was originally the subtitle.

While talking with Eurogamer, 2K Marin Creative Director Morgan Gray said:

"The team has been working hard to leverage core XCOM elements like tactical decision-making and permanent death of squadmates in a purposeful way that makes this a unique tactical shooter. To that end, The Bureau will challenge players unlike any other third-person tactical shooter."

In an interview with Joystiq, Nico Bihary, a senior producer at 2K Marin, said:

"There's quite a bit of familiarity between what we're doing versus what [Firaxis] is doing. [...] it really allowed us to put together a really compelling origin story because [Enemy Unknown] already established the current version of XCOM. It's been contextualized for us, so if we tell an origin story, people understand what we're talking about."

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified was finally given a release date it would ultimately keep: Aug. 20, 2013.