XCOM developers start new studio to take on The Sims

Midsummer Studios is a new game studio founded by two former Firaxis developers, Jake Solomon and Will Miller. Before founding Midsummer, the two worked on XCOM, Civilization: Beyond Earth, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Today, the new studio has announced its first game: a next-gen life sim game with former The Sims director Grant Rodiek leading the project as executive producer.

According to the studio’s press release, this debut project “emphasizes player-driven narratives, allowing communities to share memorable moments that grow out of the creativity of players themselves.” The project doesn’t currently have a title or release date.

This new game will face stiff competition in the life-sim genre, which has been dominated by big-budget games like The Sims 4 and smaller, indie outfits like Stardew Valley. Midsummer’s developers wrote that they want to give players the tools to tell their own stories, reminiscent of the popular trend of players using avatars created in The Sims and similar games to act out soap opera-style stories that are recorded and uploaded to social media.