Jake Solomon's Midsummer Studios Closes After Two Years, Posts AI-driven Burbank Footage

Midsummer Studios, the independent studio that began operations in 2024, is shutting down after roughly a two-year run, and co-founder Jake Solomon shared pre-release footage of the studio’s in-development life-simulation Burbank in a post on X around Feb. 19–20, 2026. Solomon said the footage was “definitely pre-alpha” and publicly posted a video titled “Burbank” to YouTube alongside his announcement.

Solomon framed the shutdown in personal terms in his X post, writing: “We built a studio, we made a game, and I’m really proud of both. Before we close the doors at Midsummer Studios I’d like to share a glimpse of Burbank, the game we poured our hearts into. It’s like ‘Life Sims + The Truman Show,’ but it’s more than that. I believe people are storytellers, and I want them to share whatever stories and characters they can dream up. Burbank let’s you do that. We have moments playing this game where characters come alive in a way we’ve never experienced. And for an old game developer like me that’s special. What you’re about to see is definitely pre-alpha. But this game was a dream of mine, our team made it come true, so watch and dream with us.”

Solomon also laid out the technical core of Burbank, writing that “Our characters use AI for memory, reasoning and speech. That’s what lets you create anyone you want and drop them in any story you write. But all of our art is created by our talented artists. We had no interest in replacing \any\ developers with AI.” Gamedeveloper noted Solomon did not specify whether that AI was generative models or more traditional machine learning techniques.

The shared footage has drawn mixed reactions; one write-up described the clip as “almost 3-minute pre-alpha footage” and labeled its dialogue “soulless-voiced,” while Midsummer presented the build as a rough, early look. Kotaku-style descriptions of the project highlight an ambitious system for letting players customize television shows and write their own stories, a core design Solomon emphasized when summarizing Burbank as “Life Sims + The Truman Show.”

Midsummer Studios launched in 2024 on the strength of $6 million in funding. The seed round was led by Transcend Fund and listed participating investors including Tirta Ventures (one source spelled it “Tirtra”), Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures (sometimes written as “1 Up Ventures”), F4 Fund, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions. GamesIndustry-era materials named Will Miller, an ex-Firaxis lead designer, and Nelsie Birch, a financial and operations management veteran, as co-founders alongside Solomon; other coverage describes Solomon in leadership roles as CEO and creative director. Solomon’s previous credits include designer on XCOM: Enemy Unknown and creative director on XCOM 2 and XCOM 2: Wars of the Chosen, and work on Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

Solomon did not give a reason for the closure in his announcement, and no investor statements or staff details have been released. One outlet explicitly speculated the studio may have run out of initial investment and struggled to find a publisher, but that remains unconfirmed. An image shared alongside reporting showed the Midsummer Studios logo with the phrase “Good People Making Great Games Together” in front of a campfire.

With the studio’s financial and personnel outcomes unreported, key follow-ups include investor comment, the fate of Burbank’s code and assets, and technical disclosure about the AI used to drive characters. Solomon’s post leaves the game visible as a pre-alpha proof of concept and the studio’s closure final for now.