Jake Solomon, who recently directed turn-based RPG Marvel’s Midnight Suns, is leaving Firaxis. Known better as the creative director of the XCOM franchise, Solomon will be leaving the studio after 23 years.
On Twitter, he said, “I fulfilled two lifelong dreams in making XCOM (and XCOM 2, and War of the Chosen) and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. I’m the luckiest kid who ever lived.” Solomon expressed gratitude to Firaxis co-founder Sid Meier, his teammate, and 2K Games. As for what’s next, he said, “My brain is on fire with a new dream. Time to go chase it.”
If that weren’t enough, Firaxis studio head Steve Martin also announced his departure. Martin has been at the studio for 27 years across more than 32 game releases. He tweeted, “I am tremendously grateful for the opportunity to have championed and led the work of such a talented group of people for the past couple of decades at the greatest studio in the world.” Martin looks forward to “cheering on Firaxis in its next chapter.”
Both departures come in the wake of disappointing sales for Marvel’s Midnight Suns, as confirmed by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. However, he noted the positive critical response and believed it had long tail like other Firaxis releases. Time will tell, but a free weekend on Steam is ongoing, and a new paid DLC that adds Venom is coming next week.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is also planned for Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, but there’s no update on the release window. Stay tuned in the meantime.