Compulsion Games Officially Independent Again - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 18 hours ago / 985 Views
South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games has completed its management buyout and is now once again an independent studio after being an Xbox first-party studio for many years.
The CEO of Compulsion Games Guillaume Provost told GamesBeat the deal is now done.
"I can confirm we have regained ownership of our IP, and that the publishing rights are transferring back to Compulsion," said Provost. "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."
He added, "I did this deal for the team first and foremost. 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."
There is a lot of work to be done now that Compulsion Games is independent. Provost has been meeting with various parties to secure a stable future. Part of the team is working on a game that was in progress when they were still part of Xbox.
Provost declined how many people are still working at Compulsion Games. Some did leave to look for other jobs as soon as he warned them the studio was at risk of closure.
"We’re getting a sense for what the management team is interested in doing and building," he said.
His goal to is select projects for the team that can help it become a self sustaining studio that the team can also be passionate to build.
"I just want to make sure that we’re setting the team up for success," Provost said. "We’re going to take things slow. We’re going to meet with everyone."
He is "fairly confident" the studio can reach a healthy place if the "team’s heart and priorities are aligned with running a profitable business."
He concluded, "We’re excited to gain back the rights of our intellectual properties and to keep making interesting, weird stories and weird worlds.
"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."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Kudos to MS for giving some of these developers the option to regain their independence rather than just closing them outright. Sony didn't give some of their Studios that chance like Bluepoint.
Do we know that, or did they just not take the opportunity? I mean, I'm 100% ready to believe that Sony wouldn't give them the chance, but at least I don't know that.
Based on history of Bluepoint, the remaining owner probably just didn't want to continue (co founder died in 2019).
It seems is that Compulsion and Double Fine probably just bought themselves back (maybe at a rate lower than they sold themselves for). Seems Ninja Theory and Undead weren't able to but got buyers anyway.
It's good they remain open but also unsure on their futures as for example Compulsion basically doubled in size after MS buyout so will probably have to make cuts to remain in business.
Good to see. I don't understand why they just dont allow all companies the chance of independence again before closure.. or maybe they do and we dont hear about it.
I was playing through south of midnight yesterday. Its surprisingly deep and challenging. It reminds me of the first time playing through jedi fallen order.
