Several developers from Montreal-based studio Compulsion Games have reportedly departed the label ahead of parent company XBOX’s upcoming company-wide “reset,” first announced in a June 10 memo from XBOX CEO Asha Sharma and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty. Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight and We Happy Few, was founded in 2009 and acquired by XBOX Game Studios in 2018.
According to a Reddit comment from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Compulsion Games’ newly announced exits were not terminations, per se, but label leadership preemptively offering employees a way out ahead of virtually certain job losses. Schreier says XBOX is expected to officially begin layoffs in “early July,” just after the company’s fiscal year closes on June 30.
“This headline is not true,” reads Schreier’s correction on a related Reddit post. “Xbox’s layoffs are not beginning until early July. What happened at Compulsion is that studio leadership gave their employees permission to openly look for work because they almost certainly will be losing their jobs then. Nobody has been laid off yet. Might sound like a semantic difference but facts matter!”
“Thanks for the update Jason,” one reply reads. “Though I imagine still not a good sign of whether this studio was able to negotiate survival…
Schreier responded: “I think the implication is that if the studio does negotiate independence, it will be with a skeleton staff and so most of those staff will lose their jobs regardless.”
Now-former Compulsion Games employees announce departures in new LinkedIn posts
Several Compulsion Games employees confirmed their departures in posts on the career networking platform LinkedIn. Among them is Sean Miller, Compulsion Games’ dialogue designer, whose transparent update revealed his departure. “After nearly six wonderful years at Compulsion Games, significant professional growth, and having shipped one of my most creatively satisfying titles in my career, I am now hashtag#OpenToWork.”
Mike Sklavounos, Compulsion Games’ principal level designer, also announced his departure on the platform. “In an unexpected turn of events, I’ve officially turned on the ‘open to work’ banner. After an amazing and meaningful chapter filled with growth, collaboration, friendship and so many accomplishments. I’ve chosen to step into this new chapter with excitement rather than fear.”
Compulsion Games’ Senior Environment Artist, Jasjot Singh, also stepped down. “After several years at Compulsion Games (Xbox Game Studio) and Blue Isle Studios before that, I am hashtag#OpenToWork and actively looking for my next opportunity.”
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
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