Long before there was news of plans to purchase Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax in 2020, Microsoft began acquiring third-party game developers to fill the ranks of Xbox Game Studios. One of those companies was Compulsion Games, developer of 2018’s We Happy Few, and this was welcome news because it meant that Compulsion’s next creation likely wouldn’t spend two years in early access and then release with a variety of technical issues.

We Happy Few is an action-adventure game that unfortunately received middling reviews when it first launched, largely due to the aforementioned bugs. But the gameplay, story, and appealing aesthetic demonstrated that Compulsion Games had the potential to create truly great titles. Set in a dystopian alternative England of the 1960s, We Happy Few was developed by a team of industry veterans with experience creating other successful titles, including the company’s founder Guillaume Provost, who came from Arkane Studios.

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Jez Cordon from Windows Central, who often provides insider information on the gaming industry, revealed today that he has received an inside scoop on Compulsion’s next title, codenamed Midnight. In a September interview with Xbox Squad, the company revealed that it was working on a third-person narrative game, and Jez Cordon has dubbed it a third-person, single-player action game set in a dark and fantastical world with a “southern gothic” vibe.

The game is a coming-of-age tale that draws inspiration from America’s Deep South, although the time period has not yet been revealed, and the clothing of the story’s protagonist does not provide many hints. Early concept art of Project Midnight shows a girl with what appears to be a fanciful staff or bow carried on her back, and the game world will feature magic and “large fantastical beasts.” This is further shown in the depictions of a humanoid harpy-like creature with wings and taloned feet, as well as a giant nest structure built in the limbs of a tree.

A few more details can also be gleaned about Project Midnight from the Compulsion Games interview with Xbox Squad. Community Dev Naila Hadjas stated that the company’s goal has always been to tell human stories set in unique worlds, and their games’ protagonists could often be considered anti-heroes. Project Midnight will not have roguelike roots, as We Happy Few did, but will rather have a story with a definitive end. Development on the current game began only a few months after the release of We Happy Few, and there will not be an early access release because, being narrative-based, Compulsion Games will not need community feedback on elements like balancing or the gameplay experience.

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Sources: Windows Central, Xbox Squad