- South of Midnight took home the Game of the Year award at the Games for Change Festival.
- Developer Compulsion Games has won this honor just weeks after breaking away from Xbox.
- The company decided to get rid of the studio despite the game’s immense critical success.
To make up for its losses, Xbox has had to shed a lot of weight recently, firing employees and even detaching from entire studios. Major developers under its care, like Bethesda and id Software, have lost a sizeable portion of staff, with the latter suffering the most.
The company also spun off multiple studios, with Psychonauts creator Double Fine and Compulsion Games going independent after being threatened with closure as part of these layoffs. As it turns out, the latter has now won a Game of the Year award merely weeks after leaving Xbox.
Why it matters: Xbox cut off these talented studios despite the developers making games that focused on garnering critical acclaim, just like the company asked.
South of Midnight, developed by Compulsion Games, has won Game of the Year at the Games for Change festival held in New York. The action-adventure title took home the biggest prize at the ceremony while losing the Best Gameplay award to indie breakout title Consume Me.
In the acceptance speech, Compulsion Games developers hinted at the studio’s recent split from Xbox, saying that returning to its independent roots is scary. However, the studio is excited to build something special outside the influence of Xbox by following the ethos of South of Midnight and rising up to challenges.
The gaming giant decided to get rid of Compulsion Games despite South of Midnight becoming a huge critical success, winning honors at The Game Awards, The D.I.C.E. Awards, and the British Academy Game Awards. For sure, the title didn’t turn out to be a massive commercial hit, but that’s not surprising considering the mandate Xbox gave to studios.
As per Jason Schreier, developers were reportedly told to make titles for critical acclaim and Game Pass while not focusing on sales. Therefore, cutting off an entire studio for achieving exactly that is certainly going to turn a few heads.
Do you think Xbox should have kept Compulsion Games under its wing? Will the indie developer find success again? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
Join Our Community
