Compulsion Games has successfully completed a management buyout, becoming fully separated from Xbox.
The Montreal-based studio behind South of Midnight, We Happy Few, and Contrast first released a statement in July 2026 announcing that it would split from Xbox following a major restructuring at the company.
Compulsion Games Becomes Independent
First reported by GamesBeat, Compulsion Games’ CEO, Guillaume Provost, confirmed that the studio is now independent from Xbox, and that the studio owns all of its original IP.
“I can confirm we have regained ownership of our IP, and that the publishing rights are transferring back to Compulsion. It’s just that there’s a transition period where that happens with different platform holders,” Provost said. “Buying the games is supporting the studio as a result of that change.”
“I did this deal for the team first and foremost. I asked the team, ‘Do you want to stay together?’ The team told me we would rather eat rocks and drink gasoline rather than be split up,” Provost said.
It’s not clear what the terms of the deal were, but it was a management buyout.
Compulsion Games was one of the studios affected by Xbox’s July restructuring, which immediately resulted in 1,600 jobs being affected and will see another 1,600 lost by the end of the year.
It’s currently unclear which jobs will be lost, but speculation suggests that Xbox is keeping those needed for its next major releases around, and then will likely be let go.
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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