Xbox has had a pretty busy year so far. TheXbox Developer Directfirmly cemented itself as the first major event of the gaming industry’s year, Obsidian’s long-awaited fantasy RPGAvowedreleased back in February, and Compulsion Games’South of Midnightlaunched just over a week ago.
Though it’s received a bit of a mixed critical reception due to its repetitive combat and safe platforming and exploration mechanics,South of Midnighthas still earned itself a loyal fan-base. It’s very rare to see a game explore American Deep South folklore, and it’s even rarer to see a game put it front and center of the experience.South of Midnightmay not be a perfect fairy tale, but it’s one that Xbox should think about sharing with its competition.
South of Midnight Should Follow in Indiana Jones, Sea of Thieves' Footsteps
Xbox’s New Strategy Seems to be Paying Off
Just over a year ago, Xbox announced a bold, somewhat controversial strategy. Rather than keep its first-party titles exclusive, Microsoft announced that it would be porting some of itsXbox Game Studiostitles to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The first to embark on this bold quest was Obsidian’sPentiment, which hit PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch in February 2024.
Pentimentwas quickly joined by fellow Obsidian titleGroundedandRare’s multiplayer pirate adventureSea of Thieves. ThoughPentimentisn’t believed to have made much of a dent,Groundedwas estimated to have pulled in over 80% more players on PlayStation than Obsidian’s 16th century adventure game.Sea of Thieveswas a much bigger success, selling one million copies on PlayStation in just four months and being the platform’s most downloaded game in North America May 2024.
Though it took a little while to gain traction, it seemsXbox’s multi-platform strategyhas finally hit its stride, and Microsoft is making the most of it this year. Last year’sIndiana Jones and the Great Circlehas just come to PS5, and the award-winningForza Horizon 5is set to join it on April 29. There have even been rumors that Xbox could be setting its sights on the Nintendo Switch 2, with the likes ofHalo: The Master Chief Collectionleaked to appear on the upcoming handheld.
South of Midnight Has a Story Worth Sharing
Based on the number of ports still on their way to other platforms, it seems as though Xbox is happy with the results of its relatively new strategy, andSouth of Midnightshould be the next game that benefits from it.South of Midnightis far from a perfect game, but its core story, character relationships, and gorgeous world are certainly worth sharing with a wider audience.
On Steam,South of Midnighthas a peak player-count of 1,438 (according to SteamDB), and that peak was reached on April 13. At the time of writing,South of Midnighthas just 415 active players on Steam. While Xbox hasn’t released official sales numbers forSouth of Midnighton consoles, it seems likely that anyone with an Xbox or PC who wanted to try the game already has, especially given that it’savailable on Xbox Game Pass. If that theory is correct, then Microsoft would stand to gain more fromSouth of Midnightby releasing it on other consoles than by keeping it exclusive.
