The timing could not be more unsettling. Just weeks after South of Midnight picked up a Peabody award and a BAFTA for best new intellectual property, the studio behind it is showing serious signs of internal disruption, with more than a dozen staff members publicly signaling they are looking for new work.
The LinkedIn wave nobody wanted to see
Over the past week, at least a dozen current and former Compulsion Games employees have updated their LinkedIn profiles to flag they are open to work or actively seeking new opportunities. The departures span multiple disciplines, which is what makes this feel like more than routine turnover.
Principal level designer Mike Sklavounos described the situation as an "unexpected turn of events." Principal game designer Thomas de Rego, who spent five years at the studio, said the time had come to look for a new adventure. Game writer and narrative designer Bijan Stephen noted he was looking for his next opportunity after a couple of years at Compulsion. Senior technical artist Marc-André Voyer, senior environment artist Jasjot Singh, technical animator Ines Bouakkaoui, and dialogue designer Sean M. all posted similar messages within the same window, with Sean M. specifically describing South of Midnight as one of the most creatively satisfying titles of his career.
Beyond those seven, at least five more former Compulsion staff have flipped their profiles to open-to-work status without explicitly naming the studio in their posts.
What the numbers actually tell us
Here's the thing: scale matters here. South of Midnight's credits list 115 internal Compulsion staff. LinkedIn currently shows 111 people associated with the studio. Losing a dozen people in a single week, across disciplines as varied as level design, narrative, environment art, and animation, points to something more than a natural post-ship departure cycle.
That said, it is not a clean picture. Some staff appear to still be actively employed at Compulsion based on their current LinkedIn statuses. This is not a confirmed studio closure, and no official statement has come from Microsoft or Xbox.
The broader Xbox restructuring shadow
Compulsion is not the only Xbox studio facing uncertainty. Reports have circulated that Microsoft is planning significant restructuring across its Xbox gaming division, potentially including studio closures. Compulsion Games, Double Fine (Psychonauts, Keeper), and Ninja Theory (Hellblade) have all been named in those reports as studios at risk.
Microsoft acquired Compulsion in 2018 as part of a large studio buying spree, shortly before the studio shipped We Happy Few. South of Midnight launched as the studio's follow-up, a Southern American folklore action-adventure that earned real critical recognition. Winning a BAFTA and a Peabody in the same cycle is not something many games achieve.
Why this hits differently after a BAFTA win
The key here is context. Studios sometimes shed staff after shipping a major title, particularly if the next project is in early pre-production and headcount needs shift. That is a normal, if painful, part of the industry cycle.
But the combination of factors here, a public wave of departures, at least one described as unexpected, a broader Xbox restructuring report naming Compulsion specifically, and the sheer range of disciplines involved, makes the "routine post-launch adjustment" explanation harder to lean on.
Compulsion built something genuinely special with South of Midnight. The game's Southern Gothic atmosphere and folklore-driven storytelling earned it recognition well beyond the usual Xbox first-party conversation. Losing the team that built it, right after that recognition arrived, would be a significant blow to whatever comes next from that studio.
If you want to revisit what made the game worth all those awards while the situation develops, the South of Midnight guides cover the game's systems in full, and the broader gaming guides hub has you covered across the rest of your library.
