--- title: Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent description: Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight, is returning to independent status after Xbox's major restructuring that included thousands of layoffs... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent | daily.dev og:description: Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight, is returning to independent status after Xbox's major restructuring that included thousands of layoffs... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/spbAoumrj.png og:image:alt: Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent **[80 LEVEL](https://daily.dev/sources/80lv)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight, is returning to independent status after Xbox's major restructuring that included thousands of layoffs and the departure of four game studios. The developer will retain IP rights to its catalog including Contrast, We Happy Few, and South of Midnight. Double Fine (Psychonauts) is similarly regaining independence and retaining its IPs. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are being sold to new owners, while Arkane Studios' future remains under review. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Compulsion Games officially separates from Xbox – "The team told me we would rather eat rocks and drink gasoline than be split up"](https://daily.dev/posts/compulsion-games-officially-separates-from-xbox-the-team-told-me-we-would-rather-eat-rocks-and-dr-mudqkqfaj) · GamesIndustry.biz · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Report: Xbox to shut down Compulsion Games](https://daily.dev/posts/report-xbox-to-shut-down-compulsion-games-3c4r9vsi4) · Game Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Rumor: Xbox Planning to Close South of Midnight & Hellblade Studios](https://daily.dev/posts/rumor-xbox-planning-to-close-south-of-midnight-hellblade-studios-qauzukhpo) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Double Fine Productions regains ownership of IP and publishing rights following independence from Xbox](https://daily.dev/posts/double-fine-productions-regains-ownership-of-ip-and-publishing-rights-following-independence-from-xb-qwvhg0erp) · GamesIndustry.biz · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#gaming](https://daily.dev/tags/gaming), [#xbox](https://daily.dev/tags/xbox) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj"},"datePublished":"2026-07-07T12:17:04.064Z","dateModified":"2026-07-09T21:33:03.478Z","description":"Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight, is returning to independent status after Xbox's major restructuring that included thousands of layoffs...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/962c0f40bc285c6e71ebfe09bd719a71?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/962c0f40bc285c6e71ebfe09bd719a71?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"80 LEVEL","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"80 LEVEL","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/78eebcd76c154e6bbfd565fed7dc4093","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/former-xbox-studio-compulsion-games-goes-independent-spbaoumrj","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"gaming,xbox","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"80 LEVEL","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Former Xbox Studio Compulsion Games Goes Independent"}]} ```