Documentary for Sweet Baby Inc. game South of Midnight just dropped.
- The video opens with a talk about "empathy for people who aren't like you." and the video ends with heavy talk about the importance of "representation." Make of that what you will.
- Devs paint a picture of a passion project by the Creative Director, who grew up in the South, gone awry after MS money. Project in poor state of development, good devs with good intentions being ham-strung by poor hires and promotions not based on merit, and very poor community management. "There are many good people there."
Here is a recap of what insiders have told me about Compulsion Games and South of Midnight:
- We know the character, Hazel, was race swapped after SBI and Microsoft came on board.
- The team that created their past celebrated title, "We Happy Few," is mostly gone, leaving after being disillusioned about changes after the XBOX MS and SBI involvement, studio politics, and more.
- Promotion of non qualified staff to lead and management positions resulted in a mess of a project. "No idea how to make a game."
- The community manager is known to be openly racist.
@Pikachulita is cited on one of the many incompetent staff promoted or hired into senior positions who does no actual work. A quick glance at the company page she manages,
@CompulsionGames, reveal virtually NO info about the game and consist of endless RETWEETS of DEI related matters and promotions about OTHER games and companies. (This is a repost of my former report and since then the company account has been focusing much more on the game, The CM has since relocated to BSky after going protected on X).
- Devs paint a picture of a passion project by the Creative Director, who grew up in the South, gone awry after MS money. Project in poor state of development, good devs with good intentions being ham-strung by poor hires and promotions not based on merit, and very poor community management. "There are many good people there."
My thoughts:
This is a beautiful looking game, and I can really sense the passion in the Creative Director's thoughts.
I really hope SBI and MS haven't ruined this game with DEI policies and by hiring SBI and that the gameplay matches the visuals.
That said, I don't think we should support ANY game with SBI involvement: Identify as non-buynary.
Sources: Multiple confirmed insiders from Compulsion Games, X posts via CM for South of Midnight.