Former Firaxis Games creative director Jake Solomon has announced the closure of his studio, Midsummer Studios, and shared a first look at its now-canceled life sim, 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… pic.twitter.com/RuYvDhdEZO

— Jake Solomon (@SolomonJake) February 19, 2026

The news confirms that the “next-gen” life simulation project the team had been building since 2024 will not see release. Instead, Solomon published pre-alpha footage as a farewell, describing Burbank as “the game we poured our hearts into.”

Midsummer Studios Confirms Closure

Solomon broke the news via social media, stating, “We built a studio, we made a game, and I’m really proud of both.” He shared a short gameplay video of Burbank before confirming the studio would close its doors.

Midsummer Studios was founded in May 2024 by Solomon alongside former Firaxis lead designer Will Miller and operations veteran Nelsie Birch. At launch, the team said it aimed to create a “next-generation entry to the life sim genre.”

Just 21 months later, that ambition has come to an abrupt end.

While the exact reason for the closure has not been formally detailed, reports indicate the studio had been pursuing additional funding as recently as late 2025. An SEC filing showed it secured US$600,000 in new investment during that period, on top of an earlier US$6 million funding round.

That initial round was led by Transcend Fund, with participation from Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1 Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Korean publisher Krafton, and Day Zero Productions.

What Burbank Was Trying To Be

Burbank was positioned as a life sim built around player-driven storytelling. Solomon described it as “Life Sims + The Truman Show,” referencing The Truman Show as an inspiration point.

In the footage released, players could create characters with detailed backstories, drop them into staged environments styled like television sets, and guide dramatic interactions. One example showed players unlocking The Office-style talking head interviews and prompting characters with specific questions.

Over time, characters would level up, new interactions would unlock, and additional locations would become available, suggesting a progression structure layered on top of emergent storytelling.

The concept drew online comparisons to Tomodachi Life and The Movies, though Burbank appeared to aim for more direct player control and narrative shaping rather than pure randomness.

Earlier interviews indicated Solomon wanted something more guided than traditional sandbox life sims, offering tools that let players actively craft scenes instead of simply observing chaos unfold.

The Role Of AI In Burbank

One immediate talking point from the trailer was the use of generative AI.

Solomon clarified in a follow-up post that Burbank’s characters used AI for memory, reasoning and speech. According to him, that system allowed players to “create anyone you want and drop them in any story you write.”

He was also quick to address concerns about job displacement, stating that all visual art in the game was created by human artists and that the team had no interest in replacing developers with AI.

Even so, generative AI voice systems remain controversial in the wider industry, particularly among voice actors. Whether Burbank could have fully delivered on its emergent storytelling goals without AI-driven dialogue is now a hypothetical discussion, as development has officially ended.

Solomon’s Career And What Comes Next

Solomon spent 23 years at Firaxis, beginning as a programmer on Civilization titles before leading the modern XCOM 2 reboot era. He also served as creative director on Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which earned strong critical praise but underperformed commercially.

After departing Firaxis, Midsummer Studios represented a clear pivot away from turn-based tactics into life simulation. In past interviews, Solomon had spoken about his belief that “people are storytellers,” and that Burbank was built to support that idea.

There had been little public indication of trouble prior to the closure. Midsummer’s social channels were largely quiet, and recent posts highlighted milestones such as Nasdaq listings and industry recognition.

As of now, Solomon has not detailed his next move. Media outlets have reached out for further comment, but no additional statements have been made.

For fans of his previous work, the abrupt end of Midsummer Studios is a reminder of how volatile game development can be, even for veteran creators with funding and backing in place.

Whether Solomon returns to strategy games or continues chasing experimental narrative systems remains to be seen.

The post Midsummer Studios Closes, Burbank Life Sim Canceled appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In the last XCOM, the enemy was unknown. Now, they’re known only too well. In the last game, XCOM was fighting a war against the invading aliens. A war that you lost. XCOM 2 picks up the pieces twenty years after those events. A small resistance has managed, against all odds, to avoid annihilation for twenty years, and in the game’s opening act, you, the Commander, are rescued to lead the resistance in its quest to overthrow alien domination. It’s a nice touch, if a bit ego-inflating.

That’s all of the story you need to know, though the setup allows for interesting new combat mechanics and tactical capabilities.

The series continues its tradition of turn-based combat where you control a small team of specialists. Combat remains tight, and each tactical decision that you make retains its ability to define strategic decisions hours down the line. You will be kicking yourself for that small thing that you did that now, in a completely different combat scenario that you couldn’t have foreseen has destroyed what you were building up to.

Instead of a multinational force defending Earth against invaders, the tables have turned in XCOM 2. Instead of aggressively hunting down the enemy the focus is now on guerrilla warfare, taking the fight to the enemy in limited engagements with specific objectives. The new Concealment mechanic plays into this situation, allowing you to sneak up on the enemy and strategically place your team around the battlefield before commencing your attack. It really adds to the feeling of being in control of the underdog and in feeling sneaky setting up the perfect ambush. It also lets you scope the field before going all in and risking your precious troops.

The enemy types are of the generic nature and will be familiar to anyone who has played previous games in the series. However, identifying and triaging the different enemies in any given situation is critical. For example, I found it was always worth targeting the sectoids, who can cause teammates to get confused and run away, or, worse, attack their fellow soldiers.

Overwatch makes a return and is critical in scoring extra damage against enemies. Essentially it works as hiding in cover and waiting for an enemy to walk into the team mates line of site for a free fire turn at the expense of accuracy. I found it absolutely necessary in damaging enemies while keeping my team safe.

XCOM 2 also features procedurally generated maps. In place of playing through the same mission was already a new experience due to the effects of terrain, the random number generator and the various team member skills and specialities, but these additions vastly increase the repeatability of the game.

XCOM 2 retains one of the key characteristics of the series – permadeath for your fireteam. You become quite attached to your team, picking favourites to use time and again, just like in Pokemon. Your attachment can become even more complete due to the huge number of ways to customise each team member, with armour, colours, skills, weapons and more. Unlike in most games in this genre, it is perfectly sensible to take in two fighters in the same class, as their loadouts can make them behave entirely differently.

Further, each death is normally a strategic nightmare. While quicksave and quickload are available, the game is best enjoyed not continually re-evaluating each move and repudiating it immediately if it goes wrong. Instead, the game is best enjoyed when you carefully consider the consequences of your actions before you move.

In this sense, XCOM 2 plays much more like a game of chess, with each part playing its role, capable of immense power but at the same time vulnerable to your miscalculations, the RNG of a percentage shot going awry, or simply your impatience.

While this could lead to boring games of attrition or defensive play, XCOM 2 gives you a number of timed objectives to try and achieve. These range from getting to VIPs, destroying specific objectives, hacking terminals and more.

There is already great mod support for the game. Steam Workshop integration is built right into the game on launch, and it will be exciting and hilarious to see what the community. The UI is excellent and I was never confused about what each button did or what I needed to do next. Knowing what you can and can’t do is easy to understand – which is so critical in planning and (hopefully successfully) implementing that plan.

At the moment XCOM 2 is only available on the PC. While I’m sure that a future console or even mobile version will make an appearance in the future, at the moment the only way to experience this game is on a PC. Strangely, the PC supports the Steam Controller but not any others, so if you normally play hooked up to a large TV then you will have to find another solution, which is somewhat disappointing.

Unfortunately, at review time XCOM 2 is experiencing widespread bugs and framerate issues. This is a shame particularly as the game has only come out on PC. The frame rate issues aren’t particularly troublesome given the type of game it is, but nevertheless it is disheartening to see.

This second go at the new XCOM absolutely nails everything about what this sort of game is. Tight, tactical gameplay that will keep you engaged for dozens of hours. With the built in mod capabilities this is one of those games that is likely to become a platform in the future. While it is disappointing to see another major unpolished PC game there is hope that Firaxis will continue to support and refine it with patches to come.

If you’ve ever wanted to get into tactical turn based shooters there is now no peer to XCOM 2. While not perfect it is certainly hard to beat. Percentage to recommend? 100%.