Look, it is no shock to anybody for me to confess that I like South of Midnight. I’ve written about it being a love letter to the American Deep South, famous the way it was probably the greatest Xbox video games of 2025, and talked about how a lot the sport’s story, characters, and setting have meant to me on video podcasts for each GameSpot and IGN. I need everybody to play this recreation, and there is by no means been a greater time to take action on Steam.
As seen by Respec, Xbox is not listed because the writer for South of Midnight on Steam. As a substitute, the sport is famous as being self-published by Compulsion Video games, reflecting the studio’s independence following one other spherical of extreme layoffs and restructuring from Xbox.
Whereas Compulsion Video games hasn’t confirmed whether or not that is the case–who is aware of what kind of unusual and terrible backroom clauses could be in place to make sure Xbox retains getting a slice of this explicit pie–this does appear to point that every one future gross sales of South of Midnight on Steam will profit Compulsion, not Compulsion and Xbox.
So if you wish to play South of Midnight, however you have been involved about persevering with to line Xbox’s pockets, this looks like the golden alternative to lastly give the action-adventure platformer a go.
And you need to play it! The sport is so good! South of Midnight’s promoting level is actually its environment. The sound design and orchestral rating are tied into the gameplay and story to place you proper into the midst of its gothic fantasy, reworking the trauma of a resilient and multifaceted tradition into the spine of probably the most affecting video video games I’ve ever performed. Its fight and platforming aren’t precisely wow-worthy, leaning on tried-and-true PlayStation 2-era mechanics with out pushing them ahead in any significant manner, however these shortcomings are overshadowed by memorable characters, catchy tunes, and unimaginable visuals.
Like I mentioned in my South of Midnight evaluate, “Compulsion Video games hasn’t made a direct sequel to any of its video games but, nevertheless it must make an exception right here.” South of Midnight is simply that nice. Compulsion Video games has an actual winner right here, and you need to help the studio by shopping for and enjoying South of Midnight, after which becoming a member of me in celebrating this gaming accomplishment.