Ever since Bloomberg's report that there would be layoffs at Xbox at the end of the month, the entire video game industry has been on high alert. Waiting in horror to see how bad the layoffs would be this time, with initial claims pointing to them being potentially as bad as when Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees at Xbox and shuttered Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin in 2024. Or perhaps even as bad as the layoffs last year, which cut 9,000 employees across Microsoft and also drastically impacted the Xbox division. Today, we're hearing more bad news that is starting […]

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Update 15/06/2026: Kotaku's report (linked below) has been updated to claim that leadership at Compulsion is "in negotiations" with Microsoft over the studio's fate, though any details and decisions have not been shared. Original Story: Shortly after a report from Bloomberg claimed Xbox was planning more mass layoffs for the end of June 2026, a report from The Verge added that those layoffs could also include studio closures. Now, a new claim from Mike Straw, a reporter at Insider-Gaming, adds that at least two of the studios concerned for their safety are Compulsion Games in Montreal, makers of last year's […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/compulsion-games-arkane-lyon-xbox-studios-scared-of-being-shut-down/

The Canadian Game Awards 2026 have come and gone to finally close out the awards season for 2025, and while its regional restrictions meant this was one awards show that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 couldn't run away with, it did have a singular game dominating the night. South of Midnight was the clear winner of the evening, taking home seven awards, including the biggest award of the night. Compulsion Games' story-driven adventure won in almost every category it was nominated in, save for Innovation in Accessibility, which Assassin's Creed Shadows took home as its singular win of the night. Compulsion […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/south-of-midnight-dominates-canadian-game-awards-2026-with-a-near-perfect-sweep-including-goty/

The Canadian Game Awards are back for its sixth year with the 2026 CGA's, celebrating games made in Canada and by Canadians. This year, it's very much a Quebec-led affair, as all of the games up for Game of the Year (save for one) are based in the French Canadian province, and those titles are also the ones with the most nominations across all categories, with Assassin's Creed Shadows, Hell is Us, and South of Midnight leading the charge. Assassin's Creed Shadows leads the pack with a total of nine nominations across all categories, with South of Midnight in a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/canadian-game-awards-2026-nominees-reveal-assassins-creed-shadows-hell-is-u/

Compulsion Games is one of the more interesting studios to have been swept up by Microsoft during the company’s big developer spending spree from years gone by, with the previously-indie studio known best for creating the somewhat-mixed We Happy Few. In the wake of the team’s most recent release ‘South of Midnight’ Compulsion Games have confirmed that they are currently working on a brand new IP.

As reported by the publication Clawsomegamer, Compulsion Games recently published a job listing on LinkedIn, teasing some of the team’s upcoming plans in the wake of South of Midnight’s multi-platform release, writing: “We're hiring at Compulsion Games in #programming, #design and #art.”

While relatively little can be gleaned from the jobs themselves, the post concludes with a slight tease for what Compulsion Games is working on, stating: “It's the same, wonderful group of people to work with. A fascinating, intriguing, brand new IP.”

While neither We Happy Few nor South of Midnight were the most popular of releases, it is still interesting nonetheless to see the team opting to create another brand new IP for the 4th time in a row.

Going from We Happy Few to South of Midnight, Compulsion Games are clearly improving with each new release. As such, here’s to hoping that 3rd time’s the charm and that whatever they are currently working on winds up putting the studio on the map.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Compulsion's output? Are you hopeful for this new IP? What direction would you like to see the team head in? Let us know down below.

At the tail-end of last year, Microsoft and Compulsion Games announced that the first-party Xbox console exclusive South of Midnight would be coming to the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 in Spring of 2026. With the season almost upon us, South of Midnight’s multi-platform release date has now been revealed, with the game officially arriving later this month.

Making the announcement via a new ‘Critical Acclaim Trailer’ the team at Compulsion Games officially confirmed that South of Midnight will arrive on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 on the 31st of March – one week ahead of the game’s 1st anniversary.

For the uninitiated, South of Midnight is the first project from studio Compulsion Games since they were acquired by Microsoft back in 2018. Arriving in April of last year, the game was praised for its music, storytelling and art design, but was unfortunately hampered by repetitive gameplay and combat in particular.

So far, details surrounding the PS5 and Switch 2 versions remain light, with no price being provided – though we do know the game will offer both a Standard and Weaver’s Edition; the latter of which simply comes with a digital artbook; soundtrack; documentary and other bonus bits of media.

In terms of specifications, nothing was shared, although the PlayStation Store page does confirm that the game is PS5 Pro Enhanced. For context, the Series X version of the game ran internally between 1080p and 4K at 60fps, with the Series S arriving at between 540p to 1080p – and so expect the PS5 and Switch 2 to land in a similar ballpark.

Regardless, while not for everyone, South of Midnight occupies a particular spot within the wider games industry, and so it is exciting to see the game coming to additional platforms where it can hopefully reach new audiences.

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KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to South of Midnight? What do you think of its unique stop motion aesthetic? How much do you reckon the game will cost? Let us know down below.

After confirming that South of Midnight would be coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in Spring 2026 a few hours ahead of The Game Awards 2025, developer Compulsion Games has confirmed that its previously Xbox Series console exclusive will arrive on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 later this month on March 31, 2026. The release date for the new versions of the game came with a new trailer, which you can see below. After Avowed, Compulsion Games' South of Midnight was the next major release from an Xbox Game Studios team to hit shelves last year. Now, it'll […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/south-of-midnight-ps5-nintendo-switch-2-release-date/

MSI has announced a limited edition collaboration with Blizzard to celebrate the launch of the World of Warcraft Midnight expansion. This partnership introduces the MSI x World of Warcraft Midnight GeForce RTX 5070, available in two distinct collector-focused designs: the Light Edition and the Void Edition. These cards are built on the Nvidia Blackwell architecture and are inspired by the return to the elven lands of Quel'Thalas, where the battle between the Light and the Void takes centre stage.

The Void Edition captures the essence of the Voidstorm with a dark blue and purple aesthetic, featuring sharp lines and shadow-infused details for players aligned with Xal'Atath. In contrast, the Light Edition features a gold-and-white design with luminous accents that represent the Army of the Light defending the Sunwell. Both models use the Tri Frozr 4 thermal solution with Stormforce fans and a nickel-plated copper baseplate.

Technically, both cards offer identical specs, including 12 GB of GDDR7 memory at 28 Gbps and 6,144 CUDA cores. They feature a boosted clock frequency of 2625 MHz in Extreme Performance mode (via MSI Center) and a single 16-pin connector. To power it, MSI recommends at least a 650W PSU. These limited-edition GPUs are now available and seem to cost a small premium over the standard MSI RTX 5070 Gaming Trio cards. Some retailers already have them available, including Overclockers UK (at £720) and LDLC (at €830).

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KitGuru says: Are you upgrading your PC for the new WoW expansion? 

With exactly a week left before the official launch of World of Warcraft: Midnight, here's a semi-exclusive interview with Blizzard where four members of the development team open up on the key areas of the game's eleventh expansion, such as dungeons, raids, delves, the Zul'aman zone, and the new Prey system. I said semi-exclusive because I shared the remote interview session with Carrie Lambertsen from Screen Rant, so you'll see her name pop up as well throughout the transcript when she was the one asking questions. The following Blizzard developers were involved: Associate Game Director Paul Kubit, Lead Encounter Designer […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/wow-midnight-interview-prey-system-raids-zulaman/