South of Midnight is Compulsion Games' latest title. Following the 2018 FPS survival title We Happy Few, set in a dystopian alternate 1960s England, South of Midnight heads to the Deep American South for a modern fairy tale. The story and characters take inspiration from the area's local lore and history and blend them with a classic Southern Gothic flavor to create a fantastical but darker tale of balancing life's many tragedies and staying true to the people that we trust and treasure along the way.
Recently, The Best War Games chatted with Compulsion Games CEO and Studio Head Guillaume Provost. During the discussion, Provost noted that South of Midnight had accomplished an impressive feat in reaching over 1 million players since its full launch on April 8, 2025. He went on to say why he thinks the game has landed so well for audiences, and how Compulsion endeavors to deliver quality experiences for Xbox Game Studios.
South of Midnight was available 5 days early on April 3 for those who purchased the premium preorder edition.
How South of Midnight Nails Its Storybook Aesthetic
One of South of Midnight's biggest highlights is its striking storybook-like aesthetic, which is the culmination of a range of technical features.
South of Midnight Reaches Over 1 Million Players in Less Than a Month
Compulsion Games CEO and Studio Head On Working With Xbox and South of Midnight's 1 Million Plus Player Count
Xbox Game Pass titles have been on a bit of a hot streak recently, with South of Midnight now counting itself high among other well-received games, including ones like Atomfall, which surpassed 2 million players in April . Prior to that was Avowed, and following South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has attracted big numbers in a short time. Provost stated that, among other factors, Compulsion's choice of location for South of Midnight played a key role in its success:
"Obviously, when making a game that's so heavily tied to a specific region and culture, you’re going to have a lot of sales that are proportionately based on that region."
Compulsion was acquired by Microsoft/Xbox in 2018. After finishing We Happy Few's season pass content and DLCs throughout the next year, the studio started looking at various ideas for a new project that would eventually turn into South of Midnight. When asked about his feelings on the results so far, Provost said, "I can confidently say we've had more than a million players on South Midnight since its release."
South of Midnight's Deep Southern Setting Helped it Resonate With 1 Million+ Players
Giving his thoughts on why South of Midnight is so affecting to so many, Provost credited his team with focusing on an often overlooked part of the United States for game settings:
When we had the discussion originally, I thought that that specific region was pretty underserved in the video game market. Kentucky Route Zero is a good example, and you've seen it portrayed in Red Dead Redemption. But no one had really kind of dived in and mined the mythology of the area and looked at what made it iconic.
He continued by highlighting how he views Compulsion's role as a Microsoft studio "is not to make blockbusters like Call of Duty, but to provide games that add distinctiveness, where we can either serve audiences that haven’t been served before or create projects that add diversity to the portfolio." Provost concluded the interview by saying,
I'm passionate about that being part of the mission for the studio moving into the future. In terms of what audience, what experiences, and what areas of the world we'll represent next, I can't tell you. But I think it's an important role within Xbox for us to be a brand that appeals to people from all walks of life.
South of Midnight
- Released
- April 8, 2025
- ESRB
- rp
- Developer(s)
- Compulsion Games
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
