Jake Solomon

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 Burbank , a life simulation game.

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.

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. Becoming the creative director of Midsummer Studios in 2023, he planned on creating a life sim game similar to The Sims, but focused on creating their own small-town drama. However, the studio announced its closure in February 2026.

Works Civilization III (2001) (programmer) Sid Meier's SimGolf (2002) (programmer) Civilization Revolution (2008) (programmer, additional design) XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012) (designer) XCOM 2 (2016) (creative director) XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (2017) (creative director) Marvel's Midnight Suns (2022) (creative director)