XCOM boss's new studio evidently shutting down without releasing a game: Jake Solomon shares AI-powered build of The Sims meets The Truman Show "before we close the doors"

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"We built a studio, we made a game, and I'm really proud of both"

Two characters passionately kiss in the canceled life sim Burbank
(Image credit: Jake Solomon)

Jake Solomon is strategy gaming royalty, having worked on numerous Firaxis classics before leading the beloved 2012 XCOM reboot at the studio. He left Firaxis in 2023 to co-found Midsummer Studios, but sadly it seems the company is shutting down before it could ship its first game: an AI-powered life sim that could be succinctly described as The Sims meets The Truman Show.

"We built a studio, we made a game, and I'm really proud of both," Solomon says on Twitter. "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."

Solomon describes the gameplay footage in this trailer as "definitely pre-alpha," and he ain't kidding – you're going to see a lot of awkward voice acting and animation in the trailer below. But there's a spark of something interesting here. This is a Sims-style sandbox game where your characters' storylines play out as TV dramas in genres ranging from soap opera to sci-fi epic.

You might get an uncanny feeling watching some of those character performances, and yes, they are driven by AI. "Our characters use AI for memory, reasoning and speech," Solomon explains in a follow-up tweet. "That's what let's [sic] 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."

Solomon co-founded Midsummer in 2024 alongside fellow Firaxis veteran Will Miller, with an initial press release noting that the studio had $6 million in investment to make "a next-gen Life Sim that emphasizes player-driven narratives." The studio also boasted of talent including long-time employees at The Sims developer Maxis, so the life sim pedigree was strong.

Burbank seems like a fun concept on its face – not far off from The Movies, a cult-favorite strategy gameled by Peter Molyneux – though I'm certainly skeptical any game doing live, AI-driven content generation could really capture players' imaginations. Still, it's beyond disappointing to see yet another team of industry veterans seemingly forced to shut down before they can bring their project to life.

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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