Xbox Game Studios Spotlight: Compulsion Games

I might be in the minority, but I absolutely loved We Happy Few and hope this studio can produce more original games like it.

I liked Contrast a lot, but We Happy Few hasn't resonated with me. When the first trailers hit, I thought it would be the next epic BioShock type hit, but that quickly faded, for me at least...So far, I'd give them a B, they can do better, but I wouldn't call them struggling.

An up and coming studio, sounds about right. I'd forgotten MS even owned them tbh.

Definitely perfect for a C grade. Talented with interesting ideas but not quite able to make a polished/complete product.

We actually know a lot more about compulsions next game than what you mention in the bio above. A quick internet search will get you this information from Jez Corden at windows central who’s been an incredible accurate source to date:

Recently, we received some details on Compulsion's first outing as part of Xbox Game Studios. Currently codenamed "Midnight," this upcoming title is supposedly a third-person action game set in a dark and fantastical world. Some of the game's early concept artwork can be seen above. They represent the game's protagonist, alongside warped harpy-like humanoids that appear to descend through various iterations of mutation. On the left, we can see what appears to be harpy nest-style dwellings built atop a tree.

Midnight is described as a "coming of age" tale drawing upon inspirations from America's Deep South. The game features magic and large fantastical beasts with a strong "southern gothic" vibe. The game is a wholly single-player experience, with what has been described to me as a "strong" story.

I really liked Contrast. It was small enough so you could get around with some unpolished things but I really liked the story and artstyle. Also the gameplay was kind of interesting.

But I had no joy with We Happy Few. Way to ambitious and I really had no fun with it. The gameplay in my opinion uninspired, most often really getting on my nerve so that I gave up early. Sometimes it would be better to provide a good story but easy to play game instead of overwhelming the gamer with all the nonsense offered in We Happy Few. I disliked the gameplay all in all. However, the first trailer and the idea for We Happy Few was great …

I have owned this game since launch. Still haven't played it. Too much backlog and not enough time.

I'd say up and coming, but definitely not struggling especially with the backing of MS now.

I liked We happy few more than I expected but from what I remember of it I couldn't really see the reasoning for the random maps, I don't think the game really needed it.

Hopefully Project Midnight will have a Polish language support, but this is Microsoft. You can never be sure with them.

Only played Contrast so far, and it was decent I guess, nothing real special. Still plan to give We Happy Few a try at some point, as I do own it.

Definitely a C I'd say.

I wonder how much they contributed to Daggerdale, which I did enjoy.

How long can a developer be considered up and coming, as they have been going for over 10 years. I can’t see them suddenly becoming a big company, and if they remain at their current size they will continue releasing one game every 5 years.

My personal opinion is that they started out as a C, but became a B back in 2018.

I think it is hard to rate developers one at a time, without ranking them all first. You have Compulsion Games at the bottom, and Playground Games (with just 5 cookie cutter collaborations with Turn 10) at the top with an S. I can think of lot’s of developers that are better than PG, and plenty that are worse than CG.

Eu amo a Compulsion Games é tenho orgulho de ter feito 100% em seus jogos. 🤟

Smudgenat0r said:I had a blast with We Happy Few, too. Spent a lot of time on that game and enjoyed every minute of it.

I had my eye on We Happy Few for some time, and I finally picked it up in the last sale. Looking forward to my playthrough in the days ahead.

We Happy Few was a decent game, straightforward enough. Enjoyed playing it

LeXXuz said:I also thoroughly enjoyed We Happy Few plus all three DLC. However, I did not start the game until after it was off preview and fully released. The game was also heavily hyped during its preview stage. I'm thinking at least some of the dislike others have shown toward the game may come from high expectations plus the clunkiness of the preview releases.

We happy few was definitely a weird one, played through once and had no desire to bother with any of the other achievements. Maybe their next one will hit a higher mark.

They had a good idea with We Happy Few, interesting concept and who doesn't love the psychedelic 60s? I just wish it was built better. There were several odd design choices and I found myself struggling to keep my attention on it after the initial missions. Hopefully their next project rectifies the design issues.