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South of Midnight has picked up Game of the Year at the Games for Change awards. The win comes just weeks after the studio behind it, Compulsion Games, went independent from Xbox as the publisher laid off hundreds of employees, cut ties with studios, and gutted others.
South Of Midnight Wins Games For Change Game Of The Year
The Games For Change awards are a little different from standard video game award ceremonies. The titles nominated are ones that have a social, cultural, and emotional impact. South of Midnight most certainly fits the criteria, not only thanks to its backdrop - one that is rarely used in games - but also thanks to its subject matter.
Set in a fictional version of America’s Deep South, protagonist Hazel encounters well-known characters from folklore rooted in that part of the world, trying to find a new place to call home after the town where she lives is torn apart by a hurricane.
South of Midnight was up against other impactful titles from the past year like Consume Me, which uses gameplay to tackle sensitive topics like eating disorders, as well as And Roger, a visual novel from indie developer TearyHand that takes you on an incredibly emotional journey through Sophie’s life as she gets to grips with something that I can’t say here without spoiling the entire game.
Seriously, though, play And Roger. It’s fantastic and only about an hour long.
South Of Midnight Continues To Do Exactly What Xbox Asked Of It
South of Midnight’s award win brings its GOTY total up to two after it picked up the highest accolade at the Canadian Game Awards earlier this year. It’s hard to believe the Compulsion game is only a little more than a year old considering how much has happened to the studio since then.
In their acceptance speech, the team behind the game said, “South of Midnight is about rising up to challenging times when it gets tough, about growth, about resilience. And the word change right now feels really timely for us because Compulsion Games is going back to being independent. That is scary. That is exciting. We built something special, this team, and I know our team, my friends, our friends, carry our spirit wherever we go, and we'll spread it across the industry.” Thanks to Game File’s Stephen Totilo for the transcription.
As welcome as a second GOTY award will be to the team behind South of Midnight, the win might also be tinged with frustration as it continues to demonstrate the studio is doing exactly what Xbox asked of it. Studios like Compulsion and Double Fine were asked to make compelling games that would not only fill up the Game Pass library, but achieve critical acclaim and win awards. Somewhere along the way, Xbox decided that original mandate wasn’t enough anymore, but it failed to loop in the developers on that decision until it was too late.
