XCOM And Marvel's Midnight Suns Director Forms New Studio

thegamer.com:

Two former Firaxis developers have founded a new studio, Midsummer. The former director of the XCOM series, Jake Soloman, is CEO of the new studio, having left Firaxis last year.

Soloman is also joined by fellow Firaxis veteran Will Miller, who was the lead designer on Civilization: Beyond Earth, and Grant Rodiek, a longtime developer on The Sims series. The influence of these past projects can already be seen at Midsummer Studios, as the team reveals that it's working on a new life sim game.

“The best stories in games are written by the players," says Soloman, speaking as part of Midsummer Studios' reveal. He goes on to give us a bit more info on the unannounced game: "At Midsummer we’re making a life sim focused on the drama of modern life, where our players will write meaningful stories just by playing, and then share those stories with the world."

Midsummer Studios has not revealed the name of its upcoming game, but it does say that it's already received funding for the project. The studio doesn't have a release window either but is "eager" to share more details soon.

"The best stories in games are written by the players" - Jake Soloman

Soloman was at Fireaxis for 23 years, having left in February 2023. During his time at the company, he served as the creative director of the XCOM series. His final game at Firaxis was Marvel's Midnight Suns, which was met with incredibly positive reviews from both fans and critics alike (it got a 4.5/5 from us) but underperformed in terms of sales.

Shortly after Soloman left the company, Firaxis was hit with layoffs. So, it's unsurprising for Midsummer Studios to confirm that it's also joined by more of the "experienced talent" who previously worked at Firaxis.

As for the rest of the team, Will Miller joins after 16 years with Firaxis, and Grant Rodiek after 18 years with Maxis Studios, which works on The Sims series. The announcement mentions that Midsummer Studios is interested in growing "sustainably", so it's