What is the Xbox exclusive South of Midnight, and who makes it?

The awful, blues-filled south midnight It was one of the more engaging trailers revealed at Xbox Game Show on Sunday, but it’s also one of the most mysterious, one that could easily be lost amid buzzy fare like the resurgence of mythrevealing of Star Wars Outlawsand giant starfield dump info. what is he talking about? How will you play? What is his lineage? How will you navigate the difficult waters in the depths of South America?

Some, if not all, have answered these questions Official developer interview on Xbox Wire. The Short Version: It’s a dark, magical, magical adventure from the makers We are happy few It will explore the folklore, music, and rural environments of a fictional South — but the studio, Compulsion Games, isn’t saying much about how it will play it yet.

When is South of Midnight released, and is it an Xbox exclusive?

No release date has been announced. Microsoft has dated several games to 2024 in its presentation, however south midnight It was not one of them – like myth, it could be further. As an Xbox Game Studios release, it’s coming to Windows PC, Xbox Series X, Game Pass, and Steam.

Who makes south of midnight?

This is the easy part. Compulsion Games is a Canadian studio based in Montreal founded by former Arkane Studios developer Guillaume Provost. As an indie, she made the beautiful but slender 2013 puzzle platformer interview and 2018 We are happy few, a dystopian, first-person, survival horror game with roguelike elements set in twisted England in the 1960s. Microsoft acquired Compulsion and Xbox Game Studios became the first team in 2018.

coercion site She says she aims to make “hallucinatory adventures in strange yet provocatively familiar worlds”, with rich storylines and world-building and a “handcrafted” feel. Its games are built around strong artistic styles and notable literary and cultural references (George Orwell, W prisoner to We are happy few; William Faulkner, Hunter’s nightBlues by Robert Johnson south midnight).

There’s also some hands-on involvement from Microsoft: Narrative producer and creative specialist James Lewis is working from his day job as head of the ID @ Xbox developer accelerator program to work on the game. Lewis, who is black, helps ensure that the Canadian developer treats the setting and characters sensitively.

Photo: Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios

What do you belong to?

In a magical version of the modern rural South, protagonist Hazel seeks to mend a broken world by encountering mythical creatures drawn from Southern folklore. Creative Director David Sears, who spent his childhood in the area, said he was “largely inspired by my wanderings through the forgotten farms and abandoned places of Mississippi.”

Hazel is a weaver, he can use magic to fight and traverse. Sears says her weaving magic allows her to “take the threads that make up the universe and weave or spin them into useful shapes for the player to use”. The influences are “full of fractal geometry expressed in knits and doilies—everything is modeled after textiles.” Hazel has strength and wisdom, but she will also have a flawed human side that is affected by her family and the world she grew up in: “She has many of the same issues as real people,” says Sears.

So are creatures from folklore – like the monster that mysteriously appears in the trailer (an Tamazight), or Haints (evil spirits who fear the color blue) – Hazel will encounter more ambivalent characters like Shakin’ Bones, the wily singing giant from the trailer. He is an immortal archon, inspired in part by Charon, the navigator in Greek mythology, and in part by the bluesman Johnson, who, according to legend, made a deal with the devil at the crossroads. It is not clear whether or not he is on Hazel’s side, and Sears hints that there may be threats in this world other than the monsters Hazel faces.

How will you play South of Midnight?

Sears and Lewis give very little on this, but we do know some basics from an earlier interview that took place prior to the game’s reveal. In a 2021 French-language interview with Xbox Squad (As I mentioned before VGCPR developer and community developer Naila Hajas of Compulsion said the team was working on a third-person narrative game. it will not be We are happy fewRoguelike elements, and unlike that game, won’t debut in Early Access. “The next game is a story, and we know where we’re going,” she said.

Photo: Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios

How does Coercion deal with a game about a black woman in the South?

In the Xbox Wire interview, Sears seems proud of it south midnight It will feature a setting and a lead character who is not underrepresented in games, but aware of the dangers of doing so from the outside. This is where Lewis comes in, who works with developers from marginalized groups. Compulsion has also sought other outside help, including internal Microsoft resources such as Xbox’s Black Employee Resource Group and outside consultants. But, Lewis says, representation in Compulsion itself, particularly on the writing team, is crucial: “The approach to this must begin with appropriate representation on the team, ensuring that we have Black women and women of color in our narrative team is key.” To understand and write Hazel’s voice.

Will the game deal with the bitter and racist history (and present) of the South? Lewis makes it sound like he’s going to be recognized, but it’s not the main thrust of the story.

“You don’t actually have to be from that region to witness that the American South has a history that makes it hard to use as a setting without its difficult past, the influence 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 aren’t fair to her. Her job is to be seen as an upcoming person in a scary and beautiful world. To make her an authentic person who he hopes will be recognized by people like my wife, daughter, and mother — who all look like Hazel.” – and communicate with her.

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