XCOM’s Jake Solomon announces his new studio is closing, reveals now-cancelled AI-driven narrative game

Firaxis veteran Jake Solomon has announced that his new studio has closed down, and has shown footage of the now-cancelled game he was working on.

Solomon spent 23 years at Firaxis – with roles including creative director on XCOM 2 and Marvel’s Midnight Suns – before leaving in early 2023. It was then announced in May 2024 that he and fellow Firaxs veteran Will Miller had set up Midsummer Studios, a new studio working on a game in the life sim genre.

Now Solomon has confirmed that Midsummer Studios is set to close, and has provided a video of the game, which was titled Burbank, to show everyone what the studio was working on.

Burbank would have had players creating stories for a group of characters by entering prompts and having the game create stories using generative AI. The provided video showed a very early build of the game, and demonstrated how this AI-generative story system worked.

“We built a studio, we made a game, and I’m really proud of both,” Solomon wrote. “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 lets 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.”

Seemingly pre-empting criticism for making a game that used AI, Solomon added: “Our characters use AI for memory, reasoning and speech. That’s what lets 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.”

Some have since replied to Solomon suggesting that writers and voice actors are also part of the development process, and that the early footage of Burbank suggested it did appear to be replacing them with AI.

In an interview with VGC in May 2024 following the opening of his new studio, Solomon said his first project – which it now emerges was Burbank – was attempting to provide a different take on the life simulation genre.

“We’re definitely a life sim, but we’re more focused on story, on the relationships in your world,” he explained at the time. “You can’t play this game without writing a story. I view it at least as much as a toy as it is a game. I view it like narrative Minecraft.”