Xbox's first-party game "Midnight South" is the latest creation created by Compulsion Games, a developer of the 2018 survival FPS game "We Happy Few".In an interview, Guillaume Provost, CEO and studio president of Compulsion Games, revealed that "South of Midnight" has accumulated more than 1 million players since its official release on April 8, 2025, and has only been three weeks.
Players exceeded 1 million
Asked how it performed for Midnight South, Provost told Foreign Media GameRant: "I can confidently say that Midnight South has attracted more than 1 million players since its release."
By comparison, according to Bethesda, Perfect Sound Wave attracted 2 million players in the first five weeks of its release, Rebellion's Atomic Fall broke 2 million players in about two weeks, and Obsidian's "Swearing" reached an astonishing 6 million players in the first month.
It is not clear how many of the 1 million players are from Game Pass and how many are from full sales, but the online peak of "Midnight South" Steam is only 1,483, indicating that the vast majority of players have played the game on Game Pass.
Compulsion was acquired by Microsoft in 2018.After completing the season ticket content and DLC for "The Lucky Few", the studio began to conceive various new projects and finally developed "South of Midnight".
Guillaume Provost went on to explain why he thinks the game is so popular and how Compulsion works to bring a high-quality gaming experience to Xbox studios.
Steam is particularly good
Selection of specific regions has played a lot
When talking about why Midnight South has had a profound impact on many players, Guillaume Provost attributed the team to the focus of a region in the United States that is often overlooked in game scenes.
Provost said that among other factors, Compulsion played a key role in the success of Midnight South: “Obviously, when you make a game that is closely related to a particular region and culture, your sales will inevitably be proportional to the sales in that region.”
"When we first discussed it, I thought this particular region was quite lacking in the video game market. "Kentucky Road 0" is a great example, and you've seen it portrayed in Red Dead Redemption 2. But no one really digs into the uniqueness of the region and explores its myths and legends and iconic elements."
Compulsion: Our role on Xbox is not a masterpiece like COD
He went on to emphasize that he believes Compulsion’s own role as a studio at Microsoft “is not to make big productions like Call of Duty, but to offer unique games that serve previously unserved audiences, or to add diversity to the product portfolio.”
"I'm passionate about this mission, which will be part of the future of the studio. As for which audiences we will be to, what experiences we will offer, and what regions of the world represent, I can't disclose it. But I think it's very important for us to play a brand role in Xbox that attracts players from all walks of life."
"Midnight South" landed on PC and Xbox Series X|S on April 8, and debuted on Xbox Game Pass.
