What is South of Midnight Xbox Exclusive and Who Makes It?

The creepy with a blues touch South of midnight was one of the most compelling trailers unveiled at Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase, but also one of the more mysterious and just got lost on louder things like the reappearance of fablethe unveiling of Star Wars Outlawsand the giant starfield info dump. Why is? How will it play? What is his family tree like? And how will it navigate the difficult waters of America’s deep southern landscape?

Some, if not all, of these questions are answered by an official developer interview on Xbox Wire. The short version: It’s a magical-realistic occult adventure from the creators of We are happy about a few which will explore the folklore, music and rural setting of a fictional South – but studio Compulsion Games isn’t saying much about how it will play just yet.

When is the South of Midnight release date and is it Xbox exclusive?

No release date has been announced. Microsoft dated several games for 2024 on its presentation, but South of midnight none of them were – like that fable, it could be even further away. As an Xbox Game Studios release, it will be available for Windows PC and Xbox Series X, Game Pass and Steam.

Who makes South of Midnight?

That’s the easy part. Compulsion Games is a Montreal-based Canadian studio founded by former Arkane Studios developer Guillaume Provost. As an indie, it was 2013’s pretty but lean puzzle-platformer contrast and 2018 We are happy about a few, a dystopian first-person survival horror game with roguelike elements set in twisted 1960s England. Compulsion was acquired by Microsoft and became the first-party team at Xbox Game Studios in 2018.

Compulsion’s website says it aims to provide “hallucinatory adventures in alien yet provocatively familiar worlds” with rich storylines and world-building and a “handmade” feel. His games are based on strong art styles and notable literary and pop culture references (George Orwell and The prisoner for We rejoice over few; William Faulkner, night of the hunterand the blues by Robert Johnson for South of midnight).

There’s some hands-on involvement from Microsoft, too: Narrative producer and creative specialist James Lewis is part-time from his job as head of ID@Xbox’s Developer Acceleration Program to work on the game. Lewis, being black, helps the Canadian developer be sensitive to the setting and characters.

Image: Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios

Why is?

In a magical version of the modern rural South, the protagonist Hazel is on a quest to mend a broken world by confronting mythical creatures from Southern folklore. Creative director David Sears, who grew up in the region, said it was “a little inspired by me roaming forgotten farms and abandoned places in Mississippi.”

Hazel is a weaver who can use magic for combat and travel. Her weaving magic allows her to “take the threads that make up the universe and weave or spin them into useful forms that the player can use,” says Sears. The effects are “full of fractal geometry, expressed in knitwear and doilies—everything is textile-themed.” Hazel is powerful and funny, but also has a flawed, human side, that of her family and the world she grew up in , is affected: “She has a lot of the same issues as real people,” says Sears.

As well as the creatures from folklore – like the monster that vaguely appears in the trailer (on Altamaha-ha) or Haints (evil spirits who fear the color blue) – Hazel will meet more ambivalent characters like Shakin’ Bones, the wizened, singing giant from the trailer. He is an immortal archon, partly inspired by Charon, the ferryman of Greek mythology, and partly by blues musician Johnson, who according to legend made a deal with the devil at a crossroads. It’s not clear if he’s on Hazel’s side or not, and Sears hints that there may be other threats in this world than the monsters Hazel faces.

How will South of Midnight play?

Sears and Lewis reveal very little about it, but we do know some basics from a previous interview given ahead of the game’s release. In a French-language interview with Xbox Squad (as reported by VGC), Compulsion PR and Community Developer Naila Hadjas said the team is working on a third-person narrative single-player game. That will not be the case We are happy about a fewcontains roguelike elements and, unlike this game, will not appear in Early Access. “The next game is a story, we know where the journey is going,” she said.

Image: Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios

How does Compulsion deal with a black woman game set in the South?

In the Xbox Wire interview, Sears seems proud of it South of midnight will have a setting and main character that is underrepresented in the gaming realm but aware of the dangers of doing so from the outside. That’s where Lewis comes in, working with fringe developers. Compulsion has also enlisted other outside help, including internal Microsoft resources like Xbox’s Black Employee Resource Group and outside consultants. But as Lewis says, representation within Compulsion itself, particularly on the writing team, is critical: “The approach to this had to start with just having appropriate representation on the team and making sure we had black women and women of color in our narrative. “Team is key to understanding and writing Hazel’s voice.”

Will the game deal with the bitter, racist history (and present) of the South? Lewis makes it sound like taking notice, but it’s not the main point of the story.

“You don’t really have to be from this area to witness that the American South has a history that makes it difficult to use as a setting without its troubled past, the effects of which we can still feel today.” But he says: “Hazel’s job isn’t to fix racism or the troubled history of the South. These challenges are not fair to her. Your task is to be seen as an adult in a scary and beautiful world. To make her an authentic person that people like my wife, my daughter, my mother – who all look like Hazel – hopefully recognize and relate to.”