Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight is still winning awards more than halfway through a 2026 that saw the studio leave Xbox and strike out on its own as an independent team.
south of midnight wins games for change’s game of the year award
Between Compulsion Games’ three released titles in Contrast, We Happy Few, and South of Midnight, it’s South of Midnight that has received the most awards and nominations. It took home The Game Awards’ Games for Impact prize and nearly swept the Canadian Game Awards, bringing home a Game of the Year trophy in the process. South of Midnight brought its award-winning art style, music, and storytelling to a broader audience earlier this year when it came to PS5 and Nintendo Switch gamers.
Despite the game’s accolades, Compulsion Games found itself in a tough spot over the past few months, as it was swept up in Xbox’s big “reset” that saw devastating job cuts across the division. A number of beloved first-party Xbox studios were put on the chopping block as well, entering negotiations to either split from Xbox or find a buyer to swoop in and save them. Luckily, Compulsion was able to split up from Xbox largely intact as an independent studio and was allowed to keep its IP. The studio is now seeking a partner to help bring its next game to fruition.
also won “best gameplay” and “best in impact” awards
GAME OF THE YEAR
The top prize of the night goes to South of Midnight by Compulsion Games! A spectacular achievement in driving the industry forward.#G4CAwards pic.twitter.com/mVGdrUqmqy
— Games for Change (@G4C) July 22, 2026
Now, after just having divorced from the Xbox first-party family, Compulsion Games has received another set of awards for South of Midnight. This time, it’s the New York-based Games for Change festival, which recently took place on July 21. It’s there that South of Midnight added three more awards to its collection: Best Gameplay, Best in Impact, and the Game of the Year award, the game’s second following its Canadian Game Awards GOTY win.
South of Midnight had a ton of stiff competition at the Games for Change festival, as a lot of other high-profile, critically acclaimed titles were in the mix. Games like The Alters, and Roger, Consume Me, and Relooted surely gave South of Midnight a run for its money, but Compulsion’s music-infused, Alice in Wonderland-inspired Southern adventure won out.
Compulsion Games’ future is a hazy one. Although it escaped Xbox’s massive wave of layoffs and studio closure threats, becoming an independent studio once again comes with its own set of challenges and uncertainties. The same can be said for its former Xbox cousin Double Fine, which was also able to exit the Xbox Game Studios family unscathed. The good news for Compulsion is that its most recent title is an award-winning one, and that should help the studio find its next partner and get back on track creating some of the most visually unique games in the industry.
South of Midnight is available on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Switch 2.
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