Compulsion Games Takes Control of South of Midnight After Microsoft Cuts Ties

Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight, has taken control of its own game's publication on Steam after Microsoft cut ties with the company. The change was noticed by Respec and can be seen on SteamDB, where the publisher of South of Midnight was updated from Xbox Game Studios to Compulsion Games on August 11, 2026.

This move follows Microsoft's announcement in July that it would be cutting five studios and thousands of jobs. Since then, several studios have expressed gratitude for being allowed to go independent, with Compulsion Games announcing its intention to collaborate with partners to develop new projects.

The game's console versions still list Xbox Game Studios as the publisher, but it is unclear whether this will change in the future. South of Midnight received a mixed review from VGC's Chris Scullion, who praised its visuals and performances but criticized its combat system for being repetitive and reductive.