XCOM & Marvel’s Midnight Suns Creative Director Jake Solomon is leaving Firaxis Games

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here

A shake-up at the top of XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns developer Firaxis Games will see veteran creative director Jake Solomon depart the company and Heather Hazen announced as its new Studio Head.

The news came in a press release from 2K, with the company calling the move a ‘New Era’ in a statement announcing Hazen’s appointment – while also confirming a new Civilization title is in the works.

NOW READ: Marvel’s Midnight Suns Deadpool DLC Release Date

Solomon had been at Firaxis for 23 years, and in that time was the Creative Director on the 2012 XCOM: Enemy Unknown reboot and its 2016 sequel, as well as more recently – Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

He offered up a statement on his departure on his Twitter account – saying “After 23 wonderful years, I’m moving on from Firaxis.”

“I’m grateful to Sid (Meier) first and foremost for teaching me. If I’m ever half as good as him I’ll be twice as good as I am now.”

“I’m grateful to my Firaxis teammates, past and present, for making dreams into reality. Genuine love and gratitude. We did some real good stuff together.”

“I’m grateful to 2K for always believing in the dreams, and always supporting us with the time and resources needed to bring them to life.”

“And I’m so thankful for everyone who enjoyed XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. I’ve never taken this job for granted. Thank you for letting me do this job.”

“I loved designing tactical turn-based games, but it’s time for other, smarter people to push that space forward. My brain is on fire with a new dream. Time to go chase it.”

Meanwhile, back at Firaxis – Heather Hazen brings 22 years of experience with her, as a former producer on Fortnite at Epic as well as several years at Popcap working on Plants Vs Zombies and Bejewelled.

“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy,” she said in her own statement. “Beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise.”

“In addition, we will continue to support Marvel’s Midnight Suns with post-launch content, and explore new creative projects for our teams.”

The last major Civilization title was Civilization VI, which released all the way back in 2016. As for Marvel’s Midnight Suns – it was recently announced that Venom will be the next DLC character, arriving next week.

No products found.

About the Author

Ben Borthwick

Ben Borthwick is the News Editor for VideoGamer. He's a fan of action adventure games, music games and especially comedic games like the Monkey Island series.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

  • Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
  • Genre(s): RPG, Tactical