Ghibli-inspired life sim Starsand Island revealed

Former developers of XCOM, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and The Sims have come together to form a new studio called Midsummer Games, all in the name of rivalling The Sims in the «life simulation» genre. Jake Solomon and Will Miller, best known for their work on Firaxis titles like Marvel's Midnight Suns and XCOM, founded the company after raising $6 million in investment. Now, the team will set out to build a next-gen life sim game.

Today, former XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns designer Jake Solomon announced the foundation of Midsummer Studios, a small indie company established with the help of several industry veterans who worked on games like Civilization (Will Miller) and The Sims (Grant Rodiek). This startup has already raised $6 million from investors like Transcend Fund, Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Ventures, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions.

A group of former XCOM and Civilisation developers have co-founded a new studio, Midsummer Studios, who plan to “revitalise the life sim genre” with their debut release. The latter doesn’t have a title yet, and is described as “a next-gen Life Sim that emphasizes player-driven narratives, allowing communities to share memorable moments that grow out of the creativity of players themselves.” According to former XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon, it’s “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.”

Firaxis veterans Jake Solomon and Will Miller have formed Midsummer Studios.

A team of veteran developers behind games such as Sid Meier’s Civilization, XCOM, and The Sims have announced the establishment of Midsummer Studios, as well as teased its in-development “next-generation entry” to the life simulation genre.

After Jake Solomon left Firaxis Studios last year, the former creative director on the XCOM series could probably have found any number of publishers or venture capitalists to back a new turn-based strategy studio. It would have a sure thing, a lay-up, like a point blank shot with a 98% to-hit rate.

Game developer Jake Solomon first made a name for himself by helming Firaxis’ revival of XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. In an interview, Solomon told Digital Trends that he has no problem being known as “the XCOM guy,” and he joked that there is a world where he could see himself dying during a playtest of XCOM 17. But after Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Solomon wanted something different.

There aren't many ways left to put a twist on Stardew Valley, but suffixing it with "in space!" oughta do it. Little-Known Galaxy is out in a week, and currently has a demo on Steam, where you can sample many of the delights that you're used to from a Stardewlike when you're new in town: meeting the locals, growing potatoes, and tidying up the place. Also, raising alien pets, seeking out new life, and new civilisations... It all takes place on a spaceship, you see, and this has some ramifications to playing the game beyond reskinning everything to be shiny metal instead of picturesque mud. It's an intriguing proposition.

Decorating and designing your dream island in Animal Crossing: New Horizions takes a lot of Bells and materials. There are hundreds of ways to decorate your dream island, but the grind to get there can be a little daunting, especially with so many items being seasonal or part of holiday events. You are always encouraged to go out and visit your friend’s islands via Dodo Airlines (as long as you have a Nintendo Switch Online membership) so you can trade for or snag some items from their islands. You might also have heard of special Treasure Islands you can visit. These are said to be jam-packed with all sorts of rare items to collect. As you know, you can’t randomly visit other players’ islands, so here’s how you can reach them.

XSEED Games and Marvelous Europe will publisher supernatural life simulation game Moonlight Peaks in North America and Europe, respectively. It will launch for PC via Steam in 2026. A demo is currently available.

Additional details about the setting of the rumored Resident Evil 9 might have surfaced.

Creativision Studio has announced Starsand Island, a tranquil island farming simulation game coming to PC via Steam in Q4 2025.