- South of Midnight appeared at the Xbox Developer_Direct with a deep dive.
- We saw new cinematics and gameplay, and got more info from the devs.
- South of Midnight arrives on April 8, with preorders going live today.
Ushering in a new year also now means the return of the annual Xbox Developer_Direct, which highlights a handful of highly anticipated Xbox and PC games launching throughout the year. This time around, four games are being shown off and enjoying proper deep dives from the developers, including a mystery game, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and — you guessed it — South of Midnight.
2025 has already set the scene for a bustling landscape of nonstop high-profile video game launches, and there are a ton I want to play. Avowed, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, Fable, The Outer Worlds 2, Atomfall… and I’m still skipping a lot. Even on that list, though, a lot of excitement is reserved for South of Midnight, a fantastical, third-person action-adventure game heavily inspired by Southern folklore and gothic mysticism. It’s the debut Xbox Game Studios title from Compulsion Games, and today’s detailed breakdown has my anticipation soaring higher than ever.
If you’d rather tune into the show yourself, you can read our primer on how to watch the Xbox Developer_Direct 2025 showcase.
The quick synopsis
During the Xbox Developer_Direct, we got a ton of new South of Midnight footage showcasing new story cinematics and action-packed gameplay. The developers at Compulsion Games also spoke about the lore they’re building and the main character we’ll take control of, and a new story trailer was dropped shortly after that segment. The protagonist’s name is Hazel, and through a series of unfortunate events she gains the powers of a Weaver, allowing her to tap into the tapestry of reality and time.
As a weaver, Hazel’s tools and abilities are drawn textile crafting and weaving, strongly inspiring the unique visual effects. Players will need to make full use of these abilities to traverse the darkly gorgeous world, but you’ll also have to learn the unique strengths and weaknesses of each Haint, the terrifying enemies that threaten Hazel and her plans.
We saw how players will need to alternate between ranged and melee combat options to stay alive. It’ll also be important to strategize around how your abilities uniquely affect different enemies. It seems to be a diverse system to power both combat and platforming, and I’m excited to play for myself to see how tactile and responsive everything feels in real time.
Gameplay aside, though, the story of South of Midnight delivered through the incredible stop-motion visuals is what really sets this game apart for me. The characters, landscapes, enemies, and even animations are all influenced by Southern folklore, especially of the gothic, mystic, and moody varieties. To say South of Midnight looks amazing would be an understatement.
The real headline, though? South of Midnight is officially releasing on April 8, 2025 for Xbox and PC, and preorders are going live today.
A deeper breakdown
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We’ve actually already seen quite a lot of South of Midnight, with Compulsion Games being pretty open about the development process that brought this game to life. In fact, we recently got a South of Midnight behind-the-scenes documentary, complete with fresh gameplay. The Developer_Direct provided an excellent overview, mostly of what we already knew, but the real surprise is undoubtedly the release date.
South of Midnight is looking to be the second first-party Xbox exclusive to release in 2025 following Avowed in February. I thought I’d have to wait until the summer to play this game, but South of Midnight is arriving on April 8, 2025. That’s exciting.
It should come as no surprise that South of Midnight is launching day one on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (via the Microsoft Store and Steam), and into Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming services. It’ll also fully support Xbox Play Anywhere with cloud saves, so you’ll be able to carry all your progress across devices.
There’s no word on whether South of Midnight will release on PlayStation or Nintendo Switch consoles. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect a port a decent time after release, though, given Xbox’s new strategies for getting its first-party games to more players.
If you’re interested in South of Midnight (as you should be), you can check out its page at the Microsoft Store for Xbox and PC. We also have an in-depth FAQ for South of Midnight that aims to answer all your lingering questions!
