Compulsion Games
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Guillaume Provost |
| Headquarters | Westmount, Montreal , Canada |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
Number of employees | 80[3] (2021) |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios (2018–present) |
| Website | compulsiongames |
Compulsion Games Inc. is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Montreal. Established in 2009 by ex-Arkane Studios developer Guillaume Provost, the studio developed the 2013 puzzle-platform game Contrast and the 2018 survival horror game We Happy Few.
History
[edit]Compulsion Games was founded in Montreal in 2009 by Guillaume Provost, who had previously worked for Arkane Studios.[4] To raise funds for their first game, the team of Compulsion Games worked on external projects, including Darksiders, Dungeon & Dragons: Daggerdale, and Arthur Christmas: Elf Run.[5]
At E3 2018, Microsoft announced they entered into an agreement to acquire Compulsion Games, which would become part of Microsoft Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios).[6] At the time of the acquisition, Compulsion Games had 40 employees.[7] By October 2021, the studio had further doubled its staff since the release of We Happy Few, and was working on a narrative, third-person perspective game, though would avoid some missteps from We Happy Few, such as using roguelike elements or an early access approach.[8]
Games developed
[edit]| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Contrast | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 | Focus Entertainment |
| 2018 | We Happy Few | Linux, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Gearbox Publishing |
| 2025 | South of Midnight | Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S | Xbox Game Studios |
References
[edit]- ^ Pavlovic, Uros (20 December 2019). "David Sears, creative director of Compulsion Games, and his studio, talk about the acquisition of Microsoft". Wccftech. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ Curtis, Christopher (28 June 2018). "Microsoft picks up Montreal's Compulsion Games: 'We get to just create'". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ Mäki, Jonas (10 September 2021). "Compulsion has doubled in size and is developing a third person game". Gamereactor. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ Gilbert, Henry (14 August 2013). "8 rising indie developers to watch". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Pavlovic, Uros (24 May 2018). "We Happy Few Slapped With Aussie Classification Board Ban". PlayStation LifeStyle. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Grubb, Jeff (10 June 2018). "Microsoft Game Studios just added five new studios including Ninja Theory". Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Romano, Sal (10 June 2018). "Microsoft acquires Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Middler, Jordan (17 October 2021). "Xbox's Compulsion Games is working on a 'third-person single player game'". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 17 October 2021.