* BeamMeUpScotty: General [=MacArthur=] [[http://www.snopes.com/quotes/macarthur.asp never actually said the page quote]].
* PropRecycling: Some of the civilian vehicles were lifted from ''VideoGame/MafiaII'', which was also published by 2K.
* TroubledProduction: The game began production as a FirstPersonShooter revival/reboot of the franchise, with early development beginning under Creator/IrrationalGames before shifting to 2K Australia due to the former studio deciding to focus solely on ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'' at the time. However, development would stall due to 2K Australia being brought in act as a support studio for both ''Bioshock'' and ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'', leaving only a small team available to continue work on the pitch. By 2010, production began in earnest, but timezone differences meant communication between 2K Australia and the California-based 2K Marin (acting as a support studio) was difficult, and attempts by parent company [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive 2K Games]] to foster better cohesion by merging both studios under the latter's name not only failed to address the communication problems, but also led to creative clashing due to the original 2K Marin now desiring more creative input due to the merger. None of this was helped by the game's E3 2010 reveal getting a cold reception from longtime fans, including the infamous "BETRAYAL" rant that Noah Antwiler gave during the Blistered Thumbs coverage of the event.
** Later on, Christoph Hartmann, the President of [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive 2K Games]] gave [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130803171748/http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/interview-christophhartmann-2kgames/082216 an interview]] tried to frame the GenreShift as necessary and deemed the strategy genre archaic [[note]]Hartmann basically stated that strategy games are not contemporary (outdated) and gave an analogy that Music/RayCharles would have updated his music style to that of Music/KanyeWest rap to keep up with the times. Within the hour, everybody on the internet pointed out that 2K Games was a publisher for ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'', a series that gave a nice profit, and that TurnBasedStrategy games were thriving on consoles and handhelds courtesy of ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'', ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'', ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' and others. The Ray Charles and Kanye West analogy pretty much pissed off everybody, even making those who didn't see why the fans were angry over the GenreShift finally understand why.[[/note]]. The fan outrage was so thorough that 2K quickly backpedaled, getting Creator/FiraxisGames to put together ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''; meanwhile, ''The Bureau'' ended up getting delayed when production had a complete restart to have it act as a ThirdPersonShooter prequel to the Firaxis title, with the California team now serving as the lead developers before becoming the sole developers.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The game's three separate iterations [[http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/05/10/the-evolution-of-the-bureau-xcom-declassified are documented here]].
** The initial enemies had a ''very'' cube-based design - disintegrated humans had cubes of their flesh digitized/deleted, their energy takes the form of a roiling mass of cubes...
** According to Spoony of ''The Spoony Experiment'', his "BETRAYAL!" meme was meant to be referenced in the game, but ultimately wasn't.
** According to Jon Bailey, the voice actor for the council representative in XCOM, he recorded some lines for the game but his role was cut.
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