Compulsion Games, makers of South of Midnight, We Happy Few, and Contrast, has successfully gone independent in full separation from its previous owner at Xbox.
The studio completed its negotiations to depart from Microsoft after last month’s “reset” under new CEO Asha Sharma, according to CEO Guillaume Provost in an interview today with GamesBeat.
With the change, Compulsion is getting the publishing rights back to its titles, meaning any purchases of the games from here on out go directly to the studio rather than Microsoft.
“I can confirm we have regained ownership of our IP, and that the publishing rights are transferring back to Compulsion,” Provost said. “It’s just that there’s a transition period where that happens with different platform holders. Buying the games is supporting the studio as a result of that change.”
The 2025 third-person action game released to decent critic scores and has since won several awards, including Games For Impact at The Game Awards and Outstanding Achievement in Animation at the 28th annual D.I.C.E. Awards.
With the separation from Microsoft, the studio now runs on its own, but sticking together as a team was a crucial part of the change, according to Provost.
“I did this deal for the team first and foremost,” he said. “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.'”
According to GamesBeat, some of the studio’s staff “left or began looking for jobs as soon as he warned them that the studio faced the risk of closure,” but most of its leaders chose to stay on. Moving forward, it will be slow-paced, and Provost says he may not begin searching for further funding right away.
“The moments like these are for change and opportunity,” he said. “Starting ventures when times are tough means the companies start to build the right bones. They understand the need for being thrifty and lean because of the economic context. I think we’ll have really solid bones. This is a similar climate to when I started my studio originally.”
