The Xcom 2012 Interactive Campaign Updated
Digging Around the DNS
As we went about looking for GTA5 content we stumbled over Xcom content that we had noticed previously but for some reason never actually took the time to explore -- and since we were there and so was it, now seems like a good time to revisit it -- and considering that it was also one of the first domain records to be sussed out of the DNS server, it was also an appropriate side trip as well!
In addition to the to-be-expected site at www.xcom.com, the initial report that we pulled from the server included a record for the following three related domains:
-- 2025409047.com (Created on 03/18/2010)-- citizenskywatch.com (Created on 04/26/2011)
-- projectenemyunknown.com (Created on 03/04/2010)
Visiting the first number domain reveals that it is mapped to the third domain, projectenemyunknown.com, but there is actually more to this story than may first appear -- as the first domain was actually connected to the first pre-release PR program for Xcom, now known as the "Strange Letter" or "IDD Letter" event.
The Strange Letter Event
In early 2010 games journos, writers, and editors began to receive a cryptic letter from something called the "Internal Defense Directorate" that mentioned an investigation of strange disappearances, and advised the recipient that they would receive further information shortly. That additional information turned out to be a package of data that included an access "key" (2025409047) that revealed the details of a startling number of disappearances all over the world, each of which included the presence of a mysterious black fluid. For a lengthy reveal of the campaign and what it means you can read the updating thread on the 2K forums (http://tinyurl.com/3ld69ah ).
Recipients of the letter than received a package that contained a new letter, a data card with login information, a chemical analysis report, and an evidence vial #10 containing a thick black substance.
After revealing a lengthy set of case and event notes, this mail and net based PR campaign used the websites noted above and played out as an interactive game for the recipients, until this past August, when the game was shut down by the issuance of a new letter stating that that the I.D.D. has been recessed and that Project: Enemy Unkown has been terminated, which in theory means that all of the participants are no longer agents for the I.D.D.
A visit to 2025409047.com now redirects the surfer to the projectenemyunknown.com website, which opens with a binary encoded message that translates to "UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS ATTEMPT" and then transitions to a black and white TV screen image very similar to the test pattern and emergency broadcast network patterns that were used in the late 1950's in America, but this video delivers the message that the project is canceled (see embedded image above) and has been classified Top Secret, then warns that all of the materials that were received must either be returned or destroyed.
When you click on this screen with your mouse it transitions to a data dump, at the end of which is a flashing cursor. When you click upon the cursor, you are prompted to download a 110MB file called CTZN1.zip that contains a pair of what appear to be text files -- one formatted for Windows, one for Mac -- but if you change their extensions to .MPG they turn out to be video files that show covertly captured footage of a strange weather pattern, and what appears to be one of the alien ships (embedded above).
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