{"id":2010358,"date":"2026-06-25T14:04:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T11:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2010358"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:04:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T11:04:54","slug":"amid-reports-xbox-is-preparing-for-significant-layoffs-a-wave-of-staff-at-south-of-midnight-developer-compulsion-games-announce-their-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2010358","title":{"rendered":"Amid reports Xbox is preparing for significant layoffs, a wave of staff at South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games announce their departure"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Amid reports Xbox is preparing for significant layoffs, a wave of staff at South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games announce their departure<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Is Asha Sharma&#8217;s &#8216;reset&#8217; already underway?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/hazel-south-of-midnight.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Hazel holds up some paper in South of Midnight\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"hazel-south-of-midnight.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Compulsion Games<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-25T14:04:54+00:00\">June 25, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"b6e8c91f-0d2f-4fbf-aa70-eafb9189ed59\" data-name=\"South of Midnight\" data-follow-text=\"Follow South of Midnight\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following South of Midnight\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow South of Midnight\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following South of Midnight\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow South of Midnight\" title=\"Follow South of Midnight\"><br \/>\n  Follow South of Midnight<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>At least a dozen people have departed award-winning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/south-of-midnight\">South of Midnight<\/a> developer Compulsion Games this week, following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">reports that Xbox is planning major restructuring<\/a> that could result in &#8220;significant&#8221; layoffs and studio closures.<\/p>\n<p>LinkedIn posts by a dozen former Compulsion staff, shared during the past week, highlight a string of departures, with at least one former employee &#8220;unexpectedly&#8221; finding themselves without a job and now looking for work. These people include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Principal level designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/mike-sklavounos-3b0a876_in-an-unexpected-turn-of-events-ive-officially-activity-7473007691540496384-6437?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Mike Sklavounos, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;In an unexpected turn of events, I&#8217;ve officially turned on the &#8216;open to work&#8217; banner.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Former principal game designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thomas-de-rego-b2772a53\/\">Thomas de Rego, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After five unforgettable years at Compulsion, the time has come to look for a new adventure.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Game writer and narrative designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7474841548585881601\/\">Bijan Stephen, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After a couple wonderful years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studios), I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Senior technical artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/mavoyer_marc-andr%C3%A9-voyer-activity-7472320072649453569-Dl5z?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Marc-Andr\u00e9 Voyer, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After several years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studios) and Unity, I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity as a Senior Tech Artist.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Senior environment artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/jasingh_opentowork-ugcPost-7472384418142330880-tRI9?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Jasjot Singh, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After several years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studio) and Blue Isle Studios before that, I am #OpenToWork and actively looking for my next opportunity.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Technical animator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/ines-bouakkaoui_opentowork-technicalanimator-technicalanimation-activity-7474875046537392128--9H6?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Ines Bouakkaoui, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;As my time at Compulsion Games is coming to an end, I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity in game development.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Dialogue designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/activity-7475559227525091329-cW3g?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Sean M., who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After nearly six wonderful years at Compulsion Games, significant professional growth, and having shipped one of my most creatively satisfying titles in my career, I am now #OpenToWork.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And I count at least five others who don&#8217;t directly reference leaving Compulsion Games, but who were working there and now state they are open to work.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UaxqvejSd8I\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a big enough list to suggest significant disruption at Compulsion Games, but it&#8217;s not clear what &#8211; if anything &#8211; the departures mean more broadly for the studio. Currently, it appears at least some people are actively still employed at Compulsion, based on their LinkedIn profiles. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobygames.com\/game\/240054\/south-of-midnight\/credits\/xbox-series\/?autoplatform=true\">The South of Midnight credits<\/a> 115 internal Compulsion staff worked on the game, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/compulsion\/people\/\">LinkedIn counts 111 people as working there<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Compulsion is the Canadian studio responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/we-happy-few-review\">We Happy Few<\/a> and more recently, the incredibly stylish and musical Southern American folklore adventure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/south-of-midnight-review\">South of Midnight<\/a>, which won a Peabody award as well as a BAFTA for best new intellectual property. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-buys-ninja-theory-playground-games-more\">Microsoft bought Compulsion Games as part of a huge spending spree<\/a> in 2018, shortly before We Happy Few was released.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, news of the departures at Compulsion follows reports that Microsoft is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-business-reset\">planning &#8220;significant&#8221; layoffs<\/a> across its Xbox gaming division, which could include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">closures of multiple studios<\/a>. Compulsion Games was one of the studios earmarked as in danger, as was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/psychonauts\">Psychonauts<\/a> and Keeper developer Double Fine, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/hellblade\">Hellblade<\/a> studio Ninja Theory.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>At least a dozen people have departed award-winning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/south-of-midnight\">South of Midnight<\/a> developer Compulsion Games this week, following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">reports that Xbox is planning major restructuring<\/a> that could result in &#8220;significant&#8221; layoffs and studio closures.<\/p>\n<p>LinkedIn posts by a dozen former Compulsion staff, shared during the past week, highlight a string of departures, with at least one former employee &#8220;unexpectedly&#8221; finding themselves without a job and now looking for work. These people include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Principal level designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/mike-sklavounos-3b0a876_in-an-unexpected-turn-of-events-ive-officially-activity-7473007691540496384-6437?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Mike Sklavounos, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;In an unexpected turn of events, I&#8217;ve officially turned on the &#8216;open to work&#8217; banner.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Former principal game designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thomas-de-rego-b2772a53\/\">Thomas de Rego, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After five unforgettable years at Compulsion, the time has come to look for a new adventure.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Game writer and narrative designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7474841548585881601\/\">Bijan Stephen, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After a couple wonderful years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studios), I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Senior technical artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/mavoyer_marc-andr%C3%A9-voyer-activity-7472320072649453569-Dl5z?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Marc-Andr\u00e9 Voyer, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After several years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studios) and Unity, I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity as a Senior Tech Artist.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Senior environment artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/jasingh_opentowork-ugcPost-7472384418142330880-tRI9?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Jasjot Singh, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After several years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studio) and Blue Isle Studios before that, I am #OpenToWork and actively looking for my next opportunity.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Technical animator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/ines-bouakkaoui_opentowork-technicalanimator-technicalanimation-activity-7474875046537392128--9H6?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Ines Bouakkaoui, who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;As my time at Compulsion Games is coming to an end, I&#8217;m looking for my next opportunity in game development.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Dialogue designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/activity-7475559227525091329-cW3g?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAUoxGIBcYD7dzkEFna_Jwj_cI4OhPmSEjo\">Sean M., who wrote<\/a>: &#8220;After nearly six wonderful years at Compulsion Games, significant professional growth, and having shipped one of my most creatively satisfying titles in my career, I am now #OpenToWork.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And I count at least five others who don&#8217;t directly reference leaving Compulsion Games, but who were working there and now state they are open to work.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UaxqvejSd8I\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a big enough list to suggest significant disruption at Compulsion Games, but it&#8217;s not clear what &#8211; if anything &#8211; the departures mean more broadly for the studio. Currently, it appears at least some people are actively still employed at Compulsion, based on their LinkedIn profiles. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobygames.com\/game\/240054\/south-of-midnight\/credits\/xbox-series\/?autoplatform=true\">The South of Midnight credits<\/a> 115 internal Compulsion staff worked on the game, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/compulsion\/people\/\">LinkedIn counts 111 people as working there<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Compulsion is the Canadian studio responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/we-happy-few-review\">We Happy Few<\/a> and more recently, the incredibly stylish and musical Southern American folklore adventure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/south-of-midnight-review\">South of Midnight<\/a>, which won a Peabody award as well as a BAFTA for best new intellectual property. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-buys-ninja-theory-playground-games-more\">Microsoft bought Compulsion Games as part of a huge spending spree<\/a> in 2018, shortly before We Happy Few was released.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, news of the departures at Compulsion follows reports that Microsoft is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-business-reset\">planning &#8220;significant&#8221; layoffs<\/a> across its Xbox gaming division, which could include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">closures of multiple studios<\/a>. Compulsion Games was one of the studios earmarked as in danger, as was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/psychonauts\">Psychonauts<\/a> and Keeper developer Double Fine, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/hellblade\">Hellblade<\/a> studio Ninja Theory.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Amid reports Xbox is preparing for significant layoffs, a wave of staff at South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games announce their departure Is Asha Sharma&#8217;s &#8216;reset&#8217; already underway? Image credit: Compulsion Games News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on June 25, 2026 Follow South of Midnight At least a dozen people have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2010358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2010358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2010358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2010358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2010358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}