XCOM Veterans Open New Studio to Boost Life Simulation Genre

Jake Solomon, creative director of the XCOM franchise and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, already has a new team. Is about Midsummer Studios, a development studio where in addition to his colleagues from Firaxis Games (Civilization) we find veterans of The Sims (Electronic Arts). The first project has yet to be formally announced and presented, but we know that they have a “next generation” life simulator on their hands.

“In games, the best stories are written by the players,” says Jake Solomon, CEO and creative director of Midsummer Studios. “At Midsummer Studios we are creating a life simulator focused on the drama of modern life, in which our players will write relevant stories simply by playing, and then share these stories with the world.” Solomon adds in statements to Video Games Chronicle that the as-yet-unnamed title has completed the prototype phase and is playable. The plan that the studio has in mind contemplates that the game can be shown to the public next year.

Midsummer Studios develops a life simulator, but very focused on the story and the relationship between the player and the world. “You can’t play this game without writing a story,” says Solomon. “It’s as much a toy as it is a game. I see it as a narrative Minecraft. The developer knows it’s moving away from the tactical strategy genre that has defined its work for more than 20 years, but it says this is that excites him and wanted to do now, a job that no one would expect from someone at Firaxis Games.

The relationship between Solomon and Firaxis Games has not been completely broken. Midsummer Studios has been installed in the former Firaxis Games offices, it has several studio employees and one of the first they hired was Ryan Meier, Sid’s son as well as Solomon’s mentor who continues to work at Firaxis Games. Solomon reveals that Sid visits them once a month.

Also notable among the members of Midsummer Studios are Will Miller, a veteran designer and engineer at Firaxis Games, and Grant Rodiek, who has worked for 18 years on The Sims saga as a producer and director at Maxis. What about the money? The studio has completed a $6 million financing round led by Transcend Fund and in which Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Krafton and Day Zero Productions have contributed. Before getting the money, Solomon didn’t have them all and thought he “would have to go back to Firaxis and ask if they needed a junior designer for the next Civilization.”