The not-quite-packed arena of life sims monopolized by EA (via The Sims) is going to get a bit crowded.

Former XCOM franchise & Marvel’s Midnight Suns creative director Jake Solomon (via Twitter) has formed a new game development studio called Midsummer Studios alongside veteran developers who worked on XCOM and Civilization. Their first major title? A “next-generation entry to the Life Sim genre”.

To form the studio, Solomon & company has raised US$6 million from major investors like Transcend Fund, Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions. As to the game they’re making, here’s the only info so far from Solomon:

“The best stories in games are written by the players. 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, and then share those stories with the world.”

Some news.

New studio, new game. Right off the bat, it's going to seem very different from what I've done before. But this is where my passion is: emergent player stories. I want to make a game that you can't play without writing a story.https://t.co/B2198BsPA4

— Jake Solomon (@SolomonJake) May 14, 2024

The studio’s next venture is growing it sustainably, hoping to offer shared equity in the company and unlimited paid time-off. For more on the last game Firaxis did, check out our review of Marvel’s Midnight Suns.