XCOM designer Jake Solomon is done with turn-based strategy for now: 'I felt like I didn't have anything more to say'
Jake Solomon is a name synonymous with turn-based strategy. As a graphics programmer at Firaxis, it was Solomon who first pitched XCOM, which years later, when it launched in 2012, sparked a renaissance in squad-based tactics. Last month, following news that the superb Midnight Suns had not been the hit publisher 2K was hoping for, Solomon announced he was leaving the company(opens in new tab) where he'd worked for over two decades.
Speaking to Simon Parkin on the My Perfect Console podcast(opens in new tab), Solomon explained what had inspired such a big change, and what he's planning now that he's a free agent.
One of the first games Solomon remembers playing was Silent Service, a submarine sim that pre-dates the era when Sid Meier's name was plastered all over his games. So when he decided to break into the industry, Firaxis ended up being the only studio he interviewed at. Meier, then, has had a big impact on his career.
«I came up under [Meier] and he taught me everything,» Solomon said. «Everything that I know as a designer, I modelled on him.» That made leaving tough. «It was the hardest for me, to tell Sid.»
While Midnight Suns did not make the kind of splash XCOM did, it was still a critical success, as well as PC Gamer's GOTY runner-up(opens in new tab). And XCOM, of course, remains utterly beloved. But it was time to move on. «Go out on top,» he said. «That's what everybody's told me.»
The decision to leave came about directly after the release of Midnight Suns, as Solomon was thinking about his next project. «OK, I'm going to make another turn-based strategy game, and am I excited about that? And I found that I wasn't that excited about doing another turn-based strategy game just because—not because the
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