The life sim genre will never be the same. Today marks the official launch of Midsummer Studios, an independent game development company led by a team of veteran developers behind legendary games likeCivilization,XCOMandThe Sims. Founded by former Firaxis Games employees Creative Director Jake Solomon and Game Director Will Miller, and Nelsie Birch (with 25 years in financial and operations management), Midsummer Studios is a start-up that is passionate and eager to create a next generation entry into the life sim genre.
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Midsummer Studios launches with $6 million raised from major investors. Transcend Fund led the round, joined by Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Krafton and Day Zero Productions. With the reveal of this studio, the co-founders shared the concept for their debut project; a next-gen Life Sim that puts an emphasis on player-driven narratives. This focus will allow communities to share memorable moments that grow out of the creativity of players themselves.
Player-Driven Stories
“The best stories in games are written by the players”
Jake Solomon launched Midsummer after 23 years at Firaxis Games, where he was the Designer and Director of the XCOM franchise andMarvel’s Midnight Suns. During the studio reveal, Jake states that,
“At Midsummer we’re making a life sim focused on the drama of modern life, where our players will write meaningful stories just by playing, then share those stories with the world,”
Shanti Bergel, Founding Partner at Transcend, talked about her decision to join the board at Midsummer Studios by sharing this,
“Leading the Seed for Midsummer was a natural fit for Transcend. As a producer of The Sims myself nearly twenty years ago, I am well acquainted with the power that meaningful player-driven stories can unlock. I also have an abiding respect for how hard it is to deliver the alchemy of community, system design, gameplay, and user-generated content necessary to do so. The Midsummer founders are industry veterans with rare experience and design artistry required to deliver against this massive opportunity. I am delighted to join the board and support their journey to redefine the Life Sim category.”
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Meet the Team
The studio welcomes Co-founder Will Miller, who worked at Firaxis Games for sixteen years as a Lead Designer ofCivilization: Beyond Earthand Lead Engineer of Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Grant Rodiek took his eighteen-year producing and directing career at Maxis Studio with him, where he worked on various installments and expansions of The Sims. While new to games, Nelsie Birch has had several high profile jobs over two decades, leading the financial and operational performance of cities and countries. As for the rest of the team, experienced talent behind many beloved Firaxis titles are working with this newfound studio.
The Midsummer founders are industry veterans with rare experience and design artistry required to deliver against this massive opportunity.
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Sustainability lies at the forefront of this new studio with the founders hoping to champion the health and happiness of their team members. They are offering shared equity in the company and unlimited paid time-off. In both the life sim genre and the workplace environment, they plan on reinventing the industry for the benefit of people.
The team at Midsummer Studio is eager to share more details about their upcoming title as development progresses. To stay informed on the latest, follow Midsummer Studio onX (Twitter),Instagram,TikTokand theirwebsite.
