Midsummer Studios, the game development company founded by Firaxis Games veteran Jake Solomon, is shutting its doors. Solomon shared the news in a post on X, where he shared “pre-pre alpha” footage of Burbank, the studio’s life sim game. He did not share any details on the reason for the closure.
“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,” he wrote. “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 [sic] you do that.”
Solomon noted in a follow-up post that Burbank did use some form of AI (he did not specify if it was generative AI or classic machine learning-driven techniques) to write and voice its characters. “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.”
The closure concludes a two-year run for Midsummer, which started operations in 2024 on the back of $6 million in funding raised by Transcend Fund in partnership with Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions.
Midsummer’s life sim game was an ambitious project
When asked at the time about starting a new studio in the midst of massive waves of layoffs and studio closures, Solomon told Game Developer at the time that Midsummer was able to secure funding because of a desire to compete with EA’s The Sims, the dominant life sim game. “Life sims have been very underserved,” he said. “There were people who said, flat out, ‘we’ve been waiting for somebody who seems equipped to do this… give us this pitch.'”
Solomon shared further thoughts on the state of investment in game studios in 2025, telling Game Developer that he disagreed with the notion that investors were to blame for poor industry conditions. “The venture capital model is built upon significant return on the VC investment,” he said. “When a VC funds our studio, they don’t have any expectation of sharing in revenue, they don’t set milestones, they don’t dictate day to day operations, and they even pay the entirety of the agreed upon funding upfront, it’s a great deal for developers.”
“But any company funded by VC knows the deal, you are expected to not just make a great game, but a transformational one.” VC investors can only make money through an “exit event” like an acquisition or IPO. “Exit events for game studios are rare.”
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