David Sears, creative director of South of Midnight, said he was concerned that Microsoft’s generous funding for the game would eventually stop. In an interview with MinnMax, he said he had warned that closing Xbox’s development “money tap” could have “really traumatic results downstream.” Asked whether he would have turned it off earlier if he had been in charge, Sears replied: “Yeah, probably.”
Sears said he wanted to make South of Midnight, but added that, in hindsight, the funding was unsustainable and its abrupt end was bound to have a shocking impact. He also recalled other directors describing the period as a possible “golden era,” while saying he had always viewed it as temporary.
Published by Xbox Game Studios, South of Midnight launched in 2025, seven years after Compulsion Games’ previous release. The game received critical acclaim but did not succeed commercially. Compulsion separated from Xbox this year as Microsoft reshaped its gaming business; the studio retained ownership of its games and publishing rights.
Microsoft acquired Compulsion in 2018 as part of a broader expansion of Xbox Game Studios. Sears praised Microsoft for allowing some studios, including Compulsion, to become independent rather than closing them. He also described the company as more humane than the Microsoft he knew in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Sources: IGN.