XCOM veteran Jake Solomon's AI-powered, narrative-driven Sims rival bites the dust

Jake Solomon's decision to move from making some of the best strategy games ever to an ambitious life sim was a perplexing but exciting one. Spinning up a new studio, Midsummer, he pitched it as "a life sim that really tries to elevate the choices the player makes in their life" when he spoke to us back in 2024. Inspired by The Sims, this would open up an even wider narrative sandbox than Maxis' iconic series. However, the former XCOM and Civilization developer has confirmed that Midsummer is closing its doors, and that the new game (titled Burbank) will never see the light of day. As a parting gift, he's shared a first look at what the game could've been, and the biggest surprise is that its narrative and dialog is AI-powered. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS:Todd Howard says Bethesda is being "incredibly cautious" around AI, but sounds keen to use it for "big data tasks"A recent rise in "AI slop" code submissions is "draining and demoralizing" the team behind open-source game engine GodotOne of FC 26's commentators confirms that EA uses an AI replicating his voice to record new lines

Feb 20, 2026 - 20:23
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XCOM veteran Jake Solomon's AI-powered, narrative-driven Sims rival bites the dust
Jake Solomon's decision to move from making some of the best strategy games ever to an ambitious life sim was a perplexing but exciting one. Spinning up a new studio, Midsummer, he pitched it as "a life sim that really tries to elevate the choices the player makes in their life" when he spoke to us back in 2024. Inspired by The Sims, this would open up an even wider narrative sandbox than Maxis' iconic series. However, the former XCOM and Civilization developer has confirmed that Midsummer is closing its doors, and that the new game (titled Burbank) will never see the light of day. As a parting gift, he's shared a first look at what the game could've been, and the biggest surprise is that its narrative and dialog is AI-powered.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:
Todd Howard says Bethesda is being "incredibly cautious" around AI, but sounds keen to use it for "big data tasks"
A recent rise in "AI slop" code submissions is "draining and demoralizing" the team behind open-source game engine Godot
One of FC 26's commentators confirms that EA uses an AI replicating his voice to record new lines

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