according to exclusive information from kotaku, microsoft’s xbox division is planning to shut down compulsion games—a canadian studio renowned for its narrative depth and artistic innovation, whose notable works include the peabody award–winning “south of midnight” and the critically acclaimed “we happy few.”
insiders confirmed to kotaku that compulsion games’ management has entered into closed-door discussions with microsoft to deliberate on the studio’s future plans, though no specific decisions or timelines have been disclosed yet.
interestingly, in a public address earlier this year, xbox’s newly appointed ceo asha sharma highly praised compulsion’s creative contributions: “what we’re truly focused on is building games of real excellence—just as matt booty emphasized. ‘south of midnight’ won a peabody award, and ‘kiln’ has already been officially released. every day, something exciting is happening here.”
this restructuring could affect dozens of employees. although the studio’s linkedin page lists a team of around 90 people, multiple sources indicate the actual headcount is higher; several current developers have already posted job-seeking updates on platforms like twitter and bluesky, suggesting that changes have quietly begun.
microsoft has not yet issued an official statement regarding this matter.
