After Compulsion Games split from Xbox, David Sears, creative director of the studio’s last game, South of Midnight, said he would have turned off Xbox’s “money tap” earlier. In an interview with MinnMax, he spoke about his time at the studio while it was still under Xbox and noted that he was already critical of the parent company’s funding early on.
“I literally told people, I was like, ‘Wow, this could be terrible,’” he said. “Because somebody is going to say one day, ‘You know the money tap? We’re closing those floodgates.’ And that’s going to have really traumatic results downstream.” When asked whether he would have stopped funding the studio earlier if he were in charge of Xbox, he replied, “Yeah, probably.”
While he still wanted South of Midnight’s development to be completed, he acknowledged that “I’m not completely selfless”, and that “in hindsight at least, it was unsustainable. So, of course it was going to have a shocking outcome.”
Regarding Xbox’s investment in Compulsion Games, Sears noted questions about whether the studio was going through a “golden era.”
“It’s easy to dissect it now, but at the time I would talk to other directors who would be like, ‘How is this happening? How did we get so lucky? Is this a golden era?’ And I would always be like, ‘For now.’ There’s always a night when Rome burns. I didn’t know exactly when it would be, but I was always worried about it.
“But to their credit — amazing. I think there’s definitely a corporate Microsoft DNA, but they are vastly different from the Microsoft I knew back in the ‘90s and early 2000s — much more humane, actually. It’s remarkable and commendable.”
Xbox announced its plans to divest itself of Compulsion Games alongside three other studios – Double Fine Productions, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory – back in July. It also notified Arkane Lyon it would have to find a new buyer before December 13th. At the time, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma noted how “many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved Xbox,” and confirmed that the company was cutting around 1,600 jobs.
As for Compulsion Games, the studio confirmed in July that it would be hanging on to the rights for South of Midnight, which opens up the door for potential sequels and spin-offs in the future. “We’re grateful for the years we spent with Xbox, for the support they provided our team, and for the opportunity to bring these games to players around the world.”
South of Midnight was released on PC and Xbox Series X/S in April 2025, followed by a PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 launch earlier this year. For more details, check out our review.
