Jake Solomon

Last updated
Jake Solomon
Alma mater University of Oklahoma
Occupation Game designer
Notable work XCOM series

Jacob Solomon, better known as Jake Solomon, is an American game designer. A long-time employee of Maryland-based Firaxis Games who applied due to his interest in the XCOM series of turn-based strategy games, he is best known for his work on the design of XCOM: Enemy Unknown , a reboot of the series, and its sequel, XCOM 2 . In 2023, he left Firaxis to become an indie developer for Midsummer Studios, working on an unannounced life simulation game.

Contents

Early life

After graduating from high school, Solomon began studying for medical school at the behest of his parents. However, in 1995, he switched his major at the University of Oklahoma from pre-med to computer science, influenced by the numerous games being released that year. Four years later, Solomon, a heavy fan of XCOM with the desire to make a similar game, applied to Firaxis and was hired by the studio. [1]

Career

Solomon described being hired by Firaxis as "complete luck", though he was noted for his design talent and creativity while at the company, causing him to rise quickly through the ranks. He positioned himself as a "fixer" helping to solve complicated problems. Considering it a dream job, he began asking to create an XCOM game. In 2003, he was given the opportunity to create a prototype for a new version of XCOM. After working with a small team for six months, Solomon revealed an "awful" prototype that he stated ironically nearly "killed" the franchise. Also describing the game as "un-fun", it resulted in Firaxis shutting down the project almost immediately. [1]

Another four years afterwards in 2007, Solomon got a second chance at designing an XCOM reboot, one which was also considered a failure. He and the rest of his team finished the game's "vertical slice" on August 23, 2009, celebrating the achievement with a party. However, they soon realized the prototype, which heavily resembled the original games, had limited appeal to all but a small group of hardcore fans, and was overly complex, with Solomon saying that the revelation caused him to grow up as a designer. [1]

By this time, Solomon had developed a close bond with Sid Meier. He was advised by Meier to listen to the feedback and take it to heart, overriding his own ideas. Solomon decided to discard the vertical slice entirely and start from scratch on what would eventually become Enemy Unknown. He worked closely with Meier to refine the gameplay while it was in development. The game ultimately released in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim, albeit leaving Solomon emotionally spent from 5 years of stressful work. [1]

As the years went on, Solomon became more and more interested in simulating interpersonal relationships in video games rather than just combat, resulting in the soldier bond system of XCOM 2 and the friendship system of Marvel's Midnight Suns , a game he described as a "hero dating simulator". He eventually soured on combat entirely and decided to leave Firaxis in 2023 to pursue designing new types of games. [2] Becoming the creative director of Midsummer Studios in 2023, he plans on creating a life sim game similar to The Sims , but focused on creating their own small-town drama. [3]

Works

Related Research Articles

<i>Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri</i> 1999 strategy video game

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the Civilization series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet Chiron ("Planet") in the Alpha Centauri star system. As the game progresses, Planet's growing sentience becomes a formidable obstacle to the human colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sid Meier</span> American game programmer and designer (born 1954)

Sidney K. Meier is an American businessman and computer programmer. A programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the Civilization series, Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996. For his contributions to the video game industry, Meier was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

XCOM is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MicroProse</span> American video game company

MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firaxis Games</span> American video game developer

Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier's earlier venture. They were acquired by Take-Two Interactive in August 2005, and subsequently became part of the publisher's 2K label. Firaxis Games is best known for developing the Civilization and XCOM series, as well as many other games bearing Meier's name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Reynolds (game designer)</span> American videogame designer

Brian Reynolds is an American videogame designer. Reynolds has designed at SecretNewCo, Zynga, Big Huge Games, and MicroProse and has been chairman of the International Game Developers Association. He has played a major part in designing a number of multi-million selling games including Civilization II, Rise of Nations, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and FrontierVille. He has also founded or co-founded three game companies, SecretNewCo, Big Huge Games, and Firaxis Games.

Julian Gollop is a British video game designer and producer specialising in strategy games, who has founded and led Mythos Games, Codo Technologies and Snapshot Games. He is known best as the "man who gave birth to the X-COM franchise."

Soren Johnson is an American businessman, game programmer, and video game designer. Johnson's games primarily belong to 4X strategy, with a number of his titles having been critically acclaimed. He is best known for his work as a lead designer on Civilization IV, Offworld Trading Company, and Old World. He also worked on Civilization III as a co-lead designer.

Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games, first released in 1991. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest, and his name is usually included in the formal title of these games, such as Sid Meier's Civilization VI. There are six main games in the series, a number of expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The seventh installment in the series is slated for release on Feb 11, 2025. The series is considered a formative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

<i>Civilization Revolution</i> 2008 video game

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is a 4X, turn-based strategy game developed in 2008 by Firaxis Games with Sid Meier as designer. It is a spin-off of the Civilization series. The video game was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Windows Phone, and iOS. A Wii version was originally expected but was cancelled. The absence of a PlayStation Portable version was attributed to a lack of development manpower.

<i>Civilization V</i> 2010 video game

Sid Meier's Civilization V is a 4X turn-based strategy video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released for Windows in September 2010, for Mac OS X on November 23, 2010, and for Linux on June 10, 2014.

<i>Civilization IV: Colonization</i> 2008 video game

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a remake of the 1994 turn-based strategy game Sid Meier's Colonization. Players control settlers from one of four European nations – Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands – that are trying to conquer/colonize the New World in the period 1492–1792. The victorious player is the first to build up his colonies and army, declare independence from the mother country, and defeat the military force that the king inevitably sends to crush the rebellion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Shafer</span> American video game designer (born 1985)

Jon Shafer is an American designer and programmer of video games. He was the lead designer of the strategy game Civilization V, developed by Firaxis.

<i>XCOM: Enemy Unknown</i> 2012 video game

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactics video game that was developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It presents a "reimagined" version of the 1994 strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense—also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is set during an alien invasion of Earth in an alternative version of 2015; the player controls an elite, multinational, paramilitary organization called XCOM and commands troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. Between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.

<i>XCOM 2</i> 2016 video game

XCOM 2 is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the sequel to 2012's reboot of the series, XCOM: Enemy Unknown; it takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown. XCOM, a military organization trying to fight off an alien invasion, has lost the war and is now a resistance force against the occupation of Earth and the established totalitarian regime and military dictatorship. Gameplay is split between turn-based combat in which players command a squad of soldiers to fight enemies, and strategy elements in which players manage and control the operations of the Avenger, an alien ship that is used as a mobile base for XCOM.

<i>XCOM: Chimera Squad</i> 2020 video game

XCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K as part of the XCOM series. It is set as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, after a tenuous peace accord between warring human and alien forces has been achieved. The player controls a mixed squad of human and alien special forces soldiers that help maintain the fragile peace of City 31, an experimental city where humans and aliens are attempting cohabitation. While Chimera Squad follows similar tactical elements of the XCOM series, it introduces new gameplay concepts to accelerate the pace of gameplay.

<i>Marvels Midnight Suns</i> 2022 video game

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a 2022 tactical role-playing game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. The game features comic book characters from multiple Marvel Comics properties, such as Midnight Sons, Avengers, X-Men, and Runaways. Players are able to create their own superhero named "The Hunter" with a choice of over 40 different powers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pitts, Russ (2013-01-31). "The Making of XCOM's Jake Solomon". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  2. ↑ Morton, Lauren (2024-05-14). "XCOM designer Jake Solomon is done with turn-based strategy and is now making a life sim inspired by small town dramas like Gilmore Girls". PC Gamer . Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  3. ↑ Brown, Fraser (2023-03-22). "XCOM designer Jake Solomon is done with turn-based strategy for now: 'I felt like I didn't have anything more to say'". PC Gamer . Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  4. ↑ "Credits". Sid Meier's Civilization III manual. Infogrames Interactive: 221. 2001. Programming: [...] Jacob Solomon
  5. 1 2 Peel, Jeremy (2 January 2023). "Jake Solomon on his journey from underqualified graphics programmer to master strategist". GamesRadar+ . Future plc . Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  6. ↑ Firaxis (2002). Sid Meier's SimGolf (Windows). EA Games. Level/area: End credits. Programming: [...] Jacob Solomon
  7. ↑ "Credits". Sid Meier's Pirates! PC manual. Atari Interactive: 118. 2004. Programmers: Jacob Solomon
  8. ↑ "Credits". Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution Xbox 360 manual. 2K: 39. 2008. Additional Design: [...] Jacob Solomon [...] Programmers: [...] Jacob Solomon
  9. ↑ Firaxis (2012). XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Windows). 2K. Level/area: Credits screen. Designed by: Jake Solomon
  10. ↑ Firaxis (2016). XCOM 2 (Windows). 2K. Level/area: Credits screen. Creative Director: Jake Solomon
  11. ↑ Firaxis (2017). XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Windows). 2K. Level/area: Credits screen. Creative Director: Jake Solomon
  12. ↑ Firaxis (2022). Marvel's Midnight Suns (Windows). 2K. Level/area: Credits screen. Creative Director: Jake Solomon
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.