Ever since Microsoft laid off 1,600 employees and—in the process—kicked multiple studios to the curb, there’s been uncertainty about how the split will impact games originally published under its increasingly shaky umbrella. Now, in at least one case, we know: Compulsion, the studio behind South Of Midnight and We Happy Few, now wholly owns its intellectual properties; if you purchase a Compulsion game, Microsoft won’t see a cent of it.
Compulsion CEO Guillaume Provost clarified the terms of its breakup with Microsoft to GamesBeat:
“I can confirm we have regained ownership of our IP, and that the publishing rights are transferring back to Compulsion. It’s just that there’s a transition period where that happens with different platform holders,” he said. “Buying the games is supporting the studio as a result of that change.”
This was a matter of some debate, as some major video game websites suggested that people were free and clear to purchase South Of Midnight without supporting Microsoft before the terms of the deal were known. At this point, the list of reasons to avoid further inflating Microsoft’s multi-billion-dollar bank account is a mile long: There are the annual mass layoffs, of course, as well as the well-documented AI obsession, but most damningly, the company continues to aid and abet Israel’s genocide in Gaza with its tech. Multiple movements, including BDS and No Games For Genocide, have called for a boycott of Xbox and Microsoft, though No Games For Genocide has always allowed a carveout for indie games generally, and South of Midnight in specific.
Compulsion, fortunately, is no longer within Microsoft’s bloodstained grasp. Despite continuing industry tumult, it will forge its own path.
“I did this deal for the team first and foremost,” Proust told GamesBeat. “I asked the team, ‘Do you want to stay together?’ The team told me we would rather eat rocks and drink gasoline rather than be split up.”
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Riley MacLeod
