South of Midnight Goes Self-Published on Steam After Compulsion Games Splits from Microsoft
Compulsion Games is now publishing South of Midnight on Steam itself, replacing Xbox Game Studios on the store page less than three months after Microsoft cut the studio loose.
On 11 August 2026, the publisher field on the game's Steam listing — tracked publicly by the database site SteamDB and first spotted by the outlet Respec — switched from Xbox Game Studios to Compulsion Games (VGC). The change covers the base game and its add-on products, including the Premium Upgrade and the Digital Extras bundle. All three listings now show Compulsion Games as both developer and publisher.
South of Midnight is a third-person action-adventure set in the American Deep South, built around folklore and stop-motion-inspired visuals. It was released on 8 April 2025, originally under the Xbox Game Studios banner. Compulsion, the Montreal-based studio behind We Happy Few, developed the title during its years as part of Microsoft's first-party portfolio.
The publisher change traces back to July 2026, when Microsoft announced plans to close five studios and eliminate thousands of jobs across its gaming division. Compulsion Games was among the affected studios. The company subsequently went independent and confirmed it is seeking new partners for future projects (VGC).
For PC players, the practical effect is minimal. The game remains available for purchase on Steam under the same store page, app ID 1934570, with no reported change to pricing or content. The shift is administrative: which company receives the storefront's revenue share and is listed as the responsible publisher in Steam's records.
What is less clear is the situation on consoles. As of the report on 14 August 2026, console store listings for South of Midnight had not yet changed publisher (VGC). Whether Compulsion will self-publish on Xbox, PlayStation, or other platforms — or whether a separate arrangement applies — remains unknown.
The move is one of the more visible aftershocks of Microsoft's July restructuring. When a publisher pulls back from a studio, the games that studio made do not automatically vanish from storefronts. But the rights, the revenue, and the name on the store page all have to land somewhere. On Steam, at least, they have now landed with Compulsion.
