XCOM designer Jake Solomon reveals "Life Sims + The Truman Show" game... while announcing his studio's closure

Midsummer Studios are nary more

Midsummer Studios announced their beingness successful May 2024 with a committedness to “revitalise the beingness sim genre”, but now, they’re closing down. Co-founder and erstwhile XCOM developer Jake Solomon confirmed the quality connected societal media this week, saying goodbye with immoderate little pre-alpha footage of Burbank - a build-your-own-TV-series task with a batch of generative AI successful it.

“We built a studio, we made a game, and I'm truly arrogant of both,” Solomon writes. “Before we adjacent the doors astatine Midsummer Studios I'd similar to stock a glimpse of Burbank, the crippled we poured our hearts into.”

Everything I knew up to this constituent astir Midsummer’s activities came from Katharine Castle’s (RPS successful peace) write-up for Eurogamer successful May 2024. Back then, the studio’s debut task was billed arsenic a tiny municipality beingness sim with inspirations ranging from Stephen King to Gilmore Girls. You’d person been capable to make a quality and take a communicative theme, similar seducing the section hottie. The municipality itself was billed arsenic an endlessly evolving simulation, with caller scenarios arising implicit time.

I’m not definite whether they’re the aforesaid game, but Burbank appears to person sprung from akin communicative sandbox ambitions. In his societal media post, Solomon describes Burbank arsenic “’Life Sims + The Truman Show’, but it’s much than that”.

“I judge radical are storytellers, and I privation them to stock immoderate stories and characters they tin imagination up,” helium continues successful that post. “Burbank let's you bash that [sic]. We person moments playing this crippled wherever characters travel live successful a mode we've ne'er experienced. And for an aged crippled developer similar maine that's special. What you're astir to spot is decidedly pre-alpha. But this crippled was a imagination of mine, our squad made it travel true, truthful ticker and imagination with us.”

Here’s an embed of Solomon's station with the Burbank clip. Apologies, Xitter haters - I can't find it connected different platform.

As you tin astir apt archer from the Wonkaverse voice-acting, the game’s characters were to “use AI for memory, reasoning and speech”, though Solomon doesn’t explicate what signifier of generative AI oregon instrumentality learning the crippled would person called upon. “That’s what let's you make anyone you privation and driblet them successful immoderate communicative you write,” helium goes on. “But each of our creation is created by our talented artists. We had nary involvement successful replacing *any* developers with AI.”

Except for the writers and performers you presumably didn’t prosecute to make stories and dialogue, I guess? I’d similar Solomon to spell into much extent here. I’d besides similar to perceive much astir wherefore precisely Midsummer are going under, and whether Burbank volition unrecorded connected successful immoderate guise, arsenic Solomon's present-tense framing benignant of suggests it might.

The workplace launched with $6 cardinal successful backing raised by Krafton, TV and movie institution Day Zero Productions, and a brace of task capitalist firms - Transcend Fund, Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, and F4 Fund. $6 cardinal is simply a batch of wealth to me, but I americium not a Money Scientist, and I don’t recognize the workings of task superior beyond a wide consciousness that VCs are leopard seals successful humanskin suits.

As of writing, Midsummer person 12 members of unit listed connected LinkedIn, including Solomon himself. Best of luck to each affected.