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] 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.
After working with a small team for six months, Solomon revealed an "awful" prototype that he stated ironically nearly "killed" the franchise.
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.
The game ultimately released in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim, albeit leaving Solomon emotionally spent from 5 years of stressful work.