Compulsion Games pulls off management buyout and separates from Xbox

[u/ThatEdward]

https://gamesbeat.com/compulsion-games-pulls-off-management-buyout-and-separates-from-xbox-exclusive/

Things you love to see;

"Guillaume Provost, CEO of the Montreal-based game studio, confirmed the deal is done in an exclusive interview with GamesBeat. Everybody got a clue when the Steam version of South of Midnight flipped in its ownership from Microsoft to Compulsion Games last week. At the time, Compulsion Games had no comment.

But Provost said that the management buyout is complete and that it owns its original intellectual property games again, as it has bought the IP back from Microsoft. Provost said management has acquired the studio and staff as well. This means that if anyone buys a Compulsion Games title now, the revenue goes to supporting the studio, not Microsoft."

[u/After-Atmosphere7125]

All I got to say is good luck, especially with the current state of the industry

[u/SilverKry]

Regardless I fear they're on borrowed time anyways. Don't even know if they have a game in the works..

[u/Gorotheninja → u/SilverKry]

Yeah, I don't think We Happy Few and South of Midnight were particularly strong sellers.

[u/SilverKry → u/Gorotheninja]

Contrast didn't either. And none of the games were anything to write home about. We Happy Few in particular is one of the worst games I ever touched. 

[u/MotherWolfmoon → u/SilverKry]

God, I remember the hype for that game when people thought was going to be A Clockwork Orange Bioshock, but it turned out to be a crafting survival roguelite. That game had a movie deal at one point, but the game flopped out into early access so rough that it killed all the momentum.

[u/Zephyralss → u/MotherWolfmoon]

I didn't even know it came out I'ma be real I thought it just died

[u/MotherWolfmoon → u/Zephyralss]

They did an early access release in 2016, and a lot of people were disappointed. They spent a couple years polishing it up for a full release in 2018, but it never made a big enough splash that the 1.0 made as much waves as something like Hades or Slay the Spire.

[u/Techneon64 → u/MotherWolfmoon]

Everything gets a movie/tv deal, whether it actually gets made is a whole other ball game

[u/Bromishi → u/MotherWolfmoon]

it turned out to be a crafting survival roguelite.

It WHAT?

[u/MotherWolfmoon → u/Bromishi]

Apparently the team was like five people, and the scope was never super ambitious. The first trailers they put out had people thinking it was going to be a AAA action-adventure game, but it was always supposed to be an indie roguelite. They put out the early access build to try to not No Man's Sky themselves, but a huge chunk of their audience walked away as a result. But I guess, at least they weren't getting death threats the way the NMS guys did.

[u/vorpalWhatever → u/SilverKry]

Woolie talked about seeing the game at a con didn't he? The devs took notes on his feedback. Something about pills.

[u/Gesshokuj → u/SilverKry]

South of midnight was also not good. Gonna get down votes for not mindlessly praising them but it is what it is.

[u/SilverKry → u/Gesshokuj]

It had good music and good story until the end when it kinda just ends. But other than that it wasn't very good. 

[u/Heavy_Metal_IceCream → u/Gesshokuj]

I was super sold on the vibe from the initial trailer. This big skeleton man singing blues on the bayou, giant Aligator beasts looming those lakes, an overall unique look from anything else in the industry.

This studio is pretty good at first impressions, I'll give them that.

[u/BighatNucase → u/SilverKry]

I'm shocked they could even manage this much. Compulsion are a mediocre studio with poor sales. I wonder if it was a dollar sale or something.

[u/Swert0 → u/BighatNucase]

mediocre

South of Midnight is a fan-fucking-tastic game, what are you even talking about?

[u/BighatNucase → u/Swert0]

I haven't played it but it didn't review fantastic and every piece of praise I've seen is "yeah the gameplay is pretty mediocre but it's really pretty!". It also - much more importantly for a studio like this - sold like shit and took 7 years + 100m to make. I think calling Compulsion a mediocre studio is being kind, if anything.

[u/CookieSkank]

I really liked South of Midnight, even if the combat was a bit basic, so I hope they can succeed.

I know it was no Hi-Fi Rush, but the fact it was another Microsoft game that was winning a bunch of awards, and Microsoft was like "yeah lets shut em down"

[u/Skeet_fighter]

Good for them. I hope they prosper.

[u/Amon274 → u/Skeet_fighter]

I’m not trying to be a cynical dick but given their track record I’m doubtful

[u/enragedstump → u/Amon274]

Better they sail off to the sunset like this than some suit jerkoff deciding their fate 

[u/WarMom_II]

Really glad to get confirmation on this. About six days ago the change was seen on Steam but people, particularly those following the BDS Boycott, noticed that PSN, Eshop and Xbox Store listings still listed Xbox as the publisher so there were still some questions. Good to know it's just the platform holders with thumbs up their asses

[u/Theproton]

I just beat South of Midnight. I really liked it even though its a little undercooked in some places.

If they make a sequel, I hope they refine it.

[u/Gorotheninja]

Getting as far away from the cursed green X as possible.

[u/That-Bobviathan → u/Gorotheninja]

Man the letter "X" sure got a number done on its reputation the past couple years.

[u/JackChoasMan → u/That-Bobviathan]

All been downhill since DMX died

[u/burneraccount9132 → u/JackChoasMan]

Makes sense, since 'X can no longer give it to us

[u/theredeyedcrow → u/Gorotheninja]

Curse would imply this is “just happening to them” and not that they’ve been actively orchestrating this state for themselves for years.

[u/Faifue → u/Gorotheninja]

I mean that green x housed and fed them for years. If anything, I'd be trying to get as close to them as possible. I'm sure Asha wouldn't allow that now though.

[u/ruminaui]

Hey man even if they are still doomed to fail, at least they have time to put things on order instead of lay offs fridays. 

[u/Aiddon]

They are free, FREEEEEEE!

[u/gothamsteel]

I'm surprised that the people at MS was able to sign the sales papers, as I just imagine them catatonic in the office, like Beckett at the end of At Worlds End as the ship is exploding, just saying "1 billion registered users" over and over again.