XCOM, X-COM, Xcom, X-Com, XCom, X-com ?

[clownagent]

This question may be nitpicking, but is there any "official" writing standard for the counter-alien organisation? I always thought it is "X-COM", but in the Ufopaedia also sometimes Xcom is used.

And of course here in the forum all possible variations are used  .

[Gifty]

As I understand it, the true original spelling has always been X-Capitol-Com, with the hyphen, whereas the all-capitol XCOM is used in newer titles because it's snappier.

[Warboy1982]

it says XCOM in my game manual, X-COM on my box, XCOM, X-COM  Xcom, X-Com and XCom in the game completely interchangeably. X-com just looks weird and wrong.

so to answer your question, the standard is "nobody cared enough to establish one"

p.s. i adhere to a strict personal standard of capitalizing it as "OpenXCom" whenever possible when referring to this project.

[Shoes]

I refer to this project as OXC.

[SupSuper]

In-game History:
The original game was called "UFO: Enemy Unknown" and the organization was called XCom or XCOM (standing for "eXtraterrestrial Combat unit") in all manual and in-game references.
Following the success and franchising of the series, the organization became X-Com or X-COM in all the following game names, manual and in-game references, starting with "X-COM: Terror from the Deep" and the American re-release of the original as "X-COM: UFO Defense".
With Take-Two/2K's new series, the game names and organization went back to just being XCOM.

Trademark History:
XCOM TERROR FROM THE DEEP (March 7, 1995; Microprose)
X-COM (May 25, 1995; Microprose)
X-COM UFO DEFENSE (May 25, 1995; Microprose)
X-COM APOCALYPSE (July 3, 1997; Microprose)
X-COM INTERCEPTOR (March 19, 1998; Hasbro)
X-COM ALLIANCE (September 29, 1998; Hasbro)
X-COM (May 7, 2007; Take-Two)
THE BUREAU: XCOM DECLASSIFIED (June 7, 2013; Take-Two)
XCOM ENEMY UNKNOWN (July 11, 2013; Take-Two)

Final Conclusion:
...yes.

[Hobbit Lord]

Wow... Fascinating!

[darkestaxe]

     As the Grand Wizard of the X-COM fandom, I, Darkestaxe, pronounce the once and future formatting for the legacy, the organization within the fiction, and the franchise to henceforth and retroactively be "X-COM". I furthermore pronounce that when X-COM is followed by a colon and extension, the colon will be followed by a space and preceded by none, such that while prefaced by X-COM the second game in the franchise should be written as "X-COM: Terror From The Deep" or "X-COM: TFTD". Finally, I officially disassociate both Firaxis' recent work and any future work by the X-COM franchise's intellectual property owners from the X-COM identity and dissolve them henceforth and retroactively of any responsibility to stay true to X-COM. The Firaxis remake will keep its original published title for both its name and its in-game organization: "XCOM".

  Darkestaxe
  First Grand Wizard of the X-COM Fandom

[xracer]

I second that notion except for the fact somewhere i claimed that title

[Solarius Scorch]

I also agree!
For clarification, can "X-Com" be used as well, or does it need to be all capitalized? I've always preferred the "X-Com" version, as a more logical contraction of "eXtraterrestrial Combat" than "X-COM"; unless I'm wrong.

[Piotr Karol Żółtowski (Piter432)]

I prefer "X-COM", because looks better for me

[Phreeze]

+1 ... if anyone cares as for most abreviated words, i use capital letters. After a hyphen, a capital letter should be the rule too, to make it look "good"