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Compulsion Games’ buyout is complete, so now Microsoft won’t get a cut if you buy South of Midnight

August 22, 2026

Compulsion Games' buyout is complete, so now Microsoft won't get a cut if you buy South of Midnight is the focus of a new gaming update, and the useful part is understanding what has actually changed or been announced. Gaming Industry South of Midnight Compulsion Games' buyout is complete, so now Microsoft won't get a cut if you buy South of Midnight News By Justin Wagner Published 22 August 2026 An Xbox Game Studio no more.

What Happened

Gaming Industry South of Midnight Compulsion Games' buyout is complete, so now Microsoft won't get a cut if you buy South of Midnight News By Justin Wagner Published 22 August 2026 An Xbox Game Studio no more. Sustainably cutting ties with such a huge publisher is no easy feat, and the turmoil at Xbox already had Compulsion devs looking for new jobs before the infamous "reset" even took place. South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games is looking for work Gaming Industry Xbox is reportedly closing South of Midnight studio Compulsion Games after bragging about its award-winning developers earlier this year Gaming Industry Compulsion Games is returning to independent management amid sweeping Xbox reorganization: 'Our immediate priority is to support our team' Gaming Industry The newly independent Psychonauts dev now earns all the revenue when you buy games it made under Xbox: 'Buying any of our games helps support the studio' Gaming Industry It's not layoffs, but you can see them from here: Numerous Compulsion Games employees are looking for new jobs Gaming Industry 5 promising games recently cancelled by Microsoft Latest in Gaming Industry Gaming Industry The newly independent Psychonauts dev now earns all the revenue when you buy games it made under Xbox: 'Buying any of our games helps support the studio' Gaming Industry Take-Two lost $2.8 billion in market cap after GTA 6 leaks—but what's more shocking to me is it probably barely felt it Game Development Former Arkane vets' new studio isn't going to try 'trend chasing', thank God Game Development Redfall developers begged Microsoft to come back and finish its last patch: 'I know we don't work here anymore,

What Players Need to Know

South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games is looking for work Gaming Industry Xbox is reportedly closing South of Midnight studio Compulsion Games after bragging about its award-winning developers earlier this year Gaming Industry Compulsion Games is returning to independent management amid sweeping Xbox reorganization: 'Our immediate priority is to support our team' Gaming Industry The newly independent Psychonauts dev now earns all the revenue when you buy games it made under Xbox: 'Buying any of our games helps support the studio' Gaming Industry It's not layoffs, but you can see them from here: Numerous Compulsion Games employees are looking for new jobs Gaming Industry 5 promising games recently cancelled by Microsoft Latest in Gaming Industry Gaming Industry The newly independent Psychonauts dev now earns all the revenue when you buy games it made under Xbox: 'Buying any of our games helps support the studio' Gaming Industry Take-Two lost $2.8 billion in market cap after GTA 6 leaks—but what's more shocking to me is it probably barely felt it Game Development Former Arkane vets' new studio isn't going to try 'trend chasing', promises strip club gameplay if people juice his cryptocurrency enough Games Fallout dev Tim Cain says we should pay more attention to bad games: '[Publishers] often don't learn from failure because they only look at the games that sold well' FPS This mod transforms Doom into a terrifying tactical shooter,

Additional Context

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. On Thursday, CEO Guillaume Provost explained to GamesBeat that "the management buyout is complete and that it owns its original intellectual property games again, as Microsoft has transferred the IP back to Compulsion Games," according to the article.

"Provost said management has acquired the studio and staff as well."Granted, if you happened to be avoiding games by Microsoft-owned studios because of the BDS boycott protesting the roles of various corporations in Israel's ongoing genocide of Palestinians, this particular game and others like it were already excepted by some advocates. No Games For Genocide named it as a possible exception due to its indie-like production scale and "themes of black liberation" in its FAQ, saying "it’s worth putting our time, energy and efforts into building mass boycotts for the larger titles."Latest Videos FromPC GamerWatch full video here: Still, if you've been holding out, the studio now gets a bigger cut of the money when you buy the game now and Microsoft gets none, assuming you don't buy it through the Xbox digital storefront.

And regardless of any of that, it's still noteworthy as a critical time for the studio also behind We Happy Few and 2013's Contrast.

Why This Matters

For players, the key question is whether this development changes availability, gameplay, platform support or the timing of a release. The source facts above are the basis for the report; AllStarGamer does not treat unconfirmed speculation as established information.

What to Watch Next

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Source: PC Gamer