https://www.midsummerstudios.com/

"Our lives are stories. Highs and lows, humor and drama, every life is a story worth telling. At Midsummer we are making a next-gen life simulation that lets you write your story and share it with the world."

No posts or any other communication since May 2024, and they aren't hiring either.
The website is still up. They have a contact form.

'Dear Midsummer, are you still there?'.

Sigh, I mean it isn't impossible they are all beavering away crafting their Gilmore Girlsesque world full of drama but somehow I doubt it.
I did wonder if Rod Humble might have moved over there, after announcing joining a 'secret project' and then disappearing last year (no evidence just speculation).

I guess the reality is that most games don't make it past the initial press launch, sad but the most likely scenario at this point?

If I remember right, this is a team of experienced AAA developers. In AAA development, you don't typically reveal much until it's nearly finished or you have something significant to show. Inzoi definitely didn't go this route but it should have. They were WAY to eager to put out a half finished project when they have the money and resources to develop that game in house, testing and all.

Anyway, I wouldn't pay too much attention to this game yet. It's likely still cooking and they have nothing significant to show off publicly. In fact, it's best to keep their cards close given the current situation with The Sims and Inzoi.

I'll be giving this one a hard pass should it ever turn into something.

Grant Rodiek, a former Sims producer is on this team. As petty as it is, I have zero tolerance for any more gaslighting and nonsense from that man. According to Grant, all the problems that were discussed with TS4 while he was lead producer were all player-created problems as if players were coding all the spaghetti code.

Does anyone have a valid Linkdin account? They could check out Grant Rodiek's profile and see what it says about current employment.
I get sent to twirly security check hell when I try to view it.

I didn't sign in, but it looks to me like he's still at this studio.

I also don't plan to get this game because of Grant's involvement even though the concept pitched forward by the xcom dev seeemd interesting. But Grant's idea of a fun life sim is not for me. Either way, the quiet atmosphere right now is not an indication of progress.

I think I missed most of the Grant drama, I took a major excursion out of the sims for many years.
Having a look around he does seem like a bit of a berk.
The concept of the game was interesting though, especially the idea of having drama creating stories.

Grant's "famous" last words on what was Twitter in 2014 will forever remain in the halls of the sims community.

What he told the community was "If you don't buy Sims 4, there won't be a Sims 5."

Sims 4 developer warns there won't be a Sims 5 if this one doesn't sell

https://www.pcgamer.com/sims-4-deve...ne-doesnt-sell/

Technically, he wasn't wrong. If Sims 4 didn't make money, there would be no money to make Sims 5. However, because Grant was known for being a jerk and a bully, his saying this came off as more of a threat than a technical point.

Not long after that, somebody from EA banned him from using his Twitter work account. He'd still yap about work on his personal account occasionally, but eventually that stopped at least for awhile. I avoid Twitter and all of that like the plague, so I don't know if he still does that or not.

Ironically,10 years later, Maxis and lower EA brass [ Laura Miele] announced there won't be a Sims 5, at all. Whether Grant knew this before he left EA last year or not will always remain speculation. We'll never know why Grant left and what he knew before he left.

EA Isn't Considering The Sims 5 Right Now Because 'It's Not Player-Friendly' To Expect Fans To 'Give Up All of the Content That You’ve Purchased Over the Years'

https://www.ign.com/articles/ea-isn...-over-the-years

On a unrelated side note about former EA employees and their egos: Doug Bowser is a former EA employee. When he left EA, he went on to be president of Nintendo America. He also loved to run his mouth and finger wag at Nintendo fans when they had less than stellar things to say about { fill in the blank}. Lately a lot of decisions that Nintendo has been making have been under scrutiny. Charging people $10.00 for a tutorial on how to use the controllers for the Swtich 2 is just one of many examples.

Bowser announced his retirement from Nintendo recently. He'll be leaving Nintendo in December.

There is no connection between Grant and Doug, but they do have something in common which is their attitudes towards customers and fans of Sims and or Nintendo. The God- like complexes that come from these people are beyond ridiculous. It is like these people forget that if nobody bought their stuff, they wouldn't have a job.

I’ve been wondering the same thing about Midsummer Studios. It’s odd that their site is still up but there’s been total silence for over a year. Usually, if a project is still alive, you at least see some small dev update or job posting.