{"id":1503950,"date":"2026-02-20T11:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/M2JmGZVvoGDP5yccMH38Cd"},"modified":"2026-02-20T11:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:12:53","slug":"xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into\/","title":{"rendered":"XCOM designer Jake Solomon announces surprise closure of his studio alongside a first look at its canceled life sim, &#8216;the game we poured our hearts into&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>Midsummer Studios founder and former Firaxis creative director, Jake Solomon, has announced the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SolomonJake\/status\/2024510423190430181\" target=\"_blank\">abrupt closure of Midsummer<\/a> through a post on X. Solomon also shared a two-minute gameplay video of its life sim, &#8220;Burbank,&#8221; the first public showcase of the planned Sims competitor. We have reached out to Solomon for comment, and will update this story when we hear back.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We built a studio, we made a game, and I&#8217;m really proud of both,&#8221; wrote Solomon. &#8220;Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I&#8217;d like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into. It&#8217;s like &#8216;Life Sims + The Truman Show,&#8217; but it&#8217;s more than that. I believe people are storytellers, and I want them to share whatever stories and characters they can dream up. Burbank lets you do that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more see-more--clipped\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet hawk-ignore\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We built a studio, we made a game, and I&#8217;m really proud of both. Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I&#8217;d like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into.It&#8217;s like &#8220;Life Sims + The Truman Show,&#8221; but it&#8217;s more than that. I believe people are\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/RuYvDhdEZO<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2024510423190430181\">February 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"see-more__filter\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We have moments playing this game where characters come alive in a way we&#8217;ve never experienced. And for an old game developer like me that&#8217;s special. What you&#8217;re about to see is definitely pre-alpha. But this game was a dream of mine, our team made it come true, so watch and dream with us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Solomon had a storied, 23-year career with Firaxis, first working on Civilization before leading design on the rebooted XCOM series. Solomon&#8217;s final game with Firaxis was Marvel&#8217;s Midnight Suns in 2022, a game we loved to the tune of an <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/marvels-midnight-suns-review\/\" target=\"_blank\">88% review<\/a> and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/goty-runner-up-2022-marvels-midnight-suns\/\" target=\"_blank\">GOTY Runner-up<\/a> award, but Midnight Suns still underperformed sales-wise.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2024 interview with PCG lead SEO editor Lauren Morton, Solomon explained his <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/life-sim\/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-is-done-with-turn-based-strategy-and-is-now-making-a-life-sim-inspired-by-the-small-town-drama-of-gilmore-girls\/\" target=\"_blank\">pivot from turn-based strategy to life sim<\/a>, and described how the then-unnamed Burbank would be designed to support player-driven narratives, a more guided experience than other, pure sandbox life sims. Elsewhere, Solomon outlined an NPC generation system that sounded intriguingly similar to the freak favorite everything sim, Dwarf Fortress.<\/p>\n<p>There was little public indication anything was wrong at Midsummer. Most of the studio&#8217;s official social media accounts have been quiet since its founding was announced in 2024. <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/midsummer-studios\/posts\/?feedView=all\" target=\"_blank\">Midsummer&#8217;s LinkedIn<\/a> shared posts celebrating its listing on the Nasdaq and securing a &#8220;Game Changer&#8221; title from GamesBeat in December. Solomon&#8217;s most recent X activity prior to the announcement was celebrating the 10-year anniversary of XCOM 2 on February 6.<\/p>\n<p><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.midsummerstudios.com\/news\/studio-announcement\" target=\"_blank\">Midsummer&#8217;s May 14, 2024 press release<\/a> disclosed that it had $6 million in funding from a number of venture capital partners, as well as Korean publisher Krafton.<\/p>\n<p>At a glance, funding seems like a safe bet for why Midsummer had to close its doors: <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/technical.ly\/entrepreneurship\/maryland-indie-game-developers-venture-capital\/\" target=\"_blank\">Technical.ly<\/a> reported that Midsummer was pursuing new funding rounds as recently as November 2025, with an <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1994234\/000199423425000002\/xslFormDX01\/primary_doc.xml\" target=\"_blank\">SEC filing<\/a> showing it secured $600,000 in new investment, which strikes me as &#8220;walking around money&#8221; in terms of trying to make a game.<\/p>\n<p>As for gameplay, Burbank looks fairly polished in its first and only gameplay trailer, though there are notable work-in-progress elements like placeholder text-to-speech voices. Even in the finished game, though, Burbank still would have used generative AI for character voices.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our characters use AI for memory, reasoning and speech,&#8221; Solomon clarified in a <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SolomonJake\/status\/2024511003917009256\" target=\"_blank\">follow-up comment on X<\/a>. &#8220;That&#8217;s what lets you create anyone you want and drop them in any story you write. But all of our art is created by our talented artists. We had no interest in replacing *any* developers with AI.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Generative AI speech is still generative AI, and videogame <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/game-development\/astarion-actor-neil-newbon-doesnt-get-why-games-like-arc-raiders-using-dull-as-hell-ai-for-voice-work-dont-go-back-and-actually-redo-the-lines-with-actors-once-they-make-it-big\/\" target=\"_blank\">voice actors have had plenty to say<\/a> on the matter. To be fair to Midsummer, though, I&#8217;m not sure if it would even be possible to fully voice emergent narratives like the ones promised by Burbank with traditional vocal performances. But that&#8217;s an entirely academic debate now that Midsummer will be unable to bring Burbank across the finish line.<\/p>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"8f795182-cbd7-4a10-929a-bfd194055fd5\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2026 games\" data-dimension48=\"2026 games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:661px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:98.94%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"6offQUY4CXebir2TC27dMd\" name=\"kingdom come 2 square\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"661\" height=\"654\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-pc-games-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"8f795182-cbd7-4a10-929a-bfd194055fd5\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2026 games\" data-dimension48=\"2026 games\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>2026 games<\/strong><\/a>: All the upcoming games<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Midsummer Studios founder and former Firaxis creative director, Jake Solomon, has announced the abrupt closure of Midsummer through a post on X. Solomon also shared a two-minute gameplay video of its life sim, &#8220;Burbank,&#8221; the first public showcase of the planned Sims competitor. We have reached out to Solomon for comment, and will update this story when we hear back. &#8220;We built a studio, we made a game, and I&#8217;m really proud of both,&#8221; wrote Solomon. &#8220;Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I&#8217;d like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into. It&#8217;s like &#8216;Life Sims + The Truman Show,&#8217; but it&#8217;s more than that. I believe people are storytellers, and I want them to share whatever stories&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1503951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[5491],"class_list":["post-1503950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-gaming-industry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>XCOM designer Jake Solomon announces surprise closure of his studio alongside a first look at its canceled life sim, &#039;the game we poured our hearts into&#039; | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Midsummer Studios founder and former Firaxis creative director, Jake Solomon, has announced the abrupt closure of Midsummer through a post on X. 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