Midsummer Studios announced their existence in May 2024 with a promise to “revitalise the life sim genre”, but now, they’re closing down. Co-founder and former XCOM developer Jake Solomon confirmed the news on social media this week, saying goodbye with some brief pre-alpha footage of Burbank - a build-your-own-TV-series project with a lot of generative AI in it.

“We built a studio, we made a game, and I'm really proud of both,” Solomon writes. “Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I'd like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into.”

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Midsummer Studios, which was established in May 2024 by a team of veteran developers behind …

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Veteran game designer Jake Solomon, known mostly for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, and Marvel's Midnight Suns, announced the closure of Midsummer Studios. Solomon had founded the development team after leaving Firaxis. In 2024, I interviewed him to learn more about his next game, a narrative-driven life simulation for which he had already raised $6 million in seed funding. Rather than going for a traditional sandbox-like approach in the vein of the king of the genre, The Sims from Maxis, the game was conceived around player-driven storytelling. It was a systems-based approach where conflict, relationships, and consequences would combine to […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/xcom-jake-solomon-closes-midsummer-studios-life-sim/

Midsummer Studios has closed, but not before giving a look at a life simulator that the team was working on.

The post Midsummer Studios Shuts Down Less Than 2 Years After Launch appeared first on Insider Gaming.

Jake Solomon, co-founder of Midsummer Studios, has announced in a post on X that the developer is closing its doors, and has shared footage of a pre-Alpha build of the unreleased title, Burbank.

We built a studio, we made a game, and I’m really proud of both. Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I’d like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into. It’s like “Life Sims + The Truman Show,” but it’s more than that. I believe people are storytellers, and I want them to share whatever stories and characters they can dream up. Burbank let’s you do that.

We have moments playing this game where characters come alive in a way we’ve never experienced. And for an old game developer like me that’s special.What you’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.

Solomon is best known for his work at Firaxis Games on the XCOM franchise, where he served as designer on XCOM: Enemy Unknown, creative director on XCOM 2 and XCOM 2: Wars of the Chosen, and also worked on 2022’s Marvel’s Midnight Suns. He co-founded Midsummer Studios in 2024.

PSU got the chance to interview Solomon back in 2024 following the formation of Midsummer Studios, where he spoke about his hopes for the then-in development Life Sim title that would become Burbank. You can read it here.

[Source – Jake Solomon on X]

The post Midsummer Studios Is Closing Down, Co-Founder Jake Solomon Shares Pre-Alpha Footage Of Life Sim Game Burbank appeared first on PlayStation Universe.