Rumors have been circulating for a while that layoffs or closures could occur in the Xbox universe. It seems that some developers have now been affected, judging by LinkedIn posts from a studio that won a Game Award just last year.
Who has been fired now? As reported by Rebs Gaming on x.com, some developers from Compulsion Games are currently looking for new jobs. At least their LinkedIn profiles indicate this. The studio’s Principal Level Designer, Mike Sklavounos, posted that he is now open to new work in the field of level design. He is grateful for the time and everything he has learned (via LinkedIn).
Looking at what other posts have been shared by Rebs Gaming, many developers from Compulsion Games seem to be searching for new jobs. However, there has been no official information yet on whether the entire studio has been closed.
Compulsion Games was one of the 2 Xbox studios that won a Game Award last year.
What has Compulsion Games been working on recently? With South of Midnight, the studio’s last game was released in 2025. At the Game Awards, they won the award for Games for Impact
. This is an award for games that are said to have storytelling that encourages players to reflect.
The only other Xbox studio that also won an award is id Software with Doom: The Dark Ages. With the shooter, they won the award for innovation in accessibility.
In 2018, Compulsion Games was acquired by Xbox and released the game We Happy Few in the same year. For several weeks, there have been rumors that Xbox would be closing some studios. As IGN reported on June 15, 2026, Compulsion Games was also mentioned in the rumors.
If a closure is officially confirmed, we will update the article.
With the last Xbox presentation, just 2 days after the Summer Game Fest, the studio attempted to win players back, among other things with console exclusivity for the new Gears of War, but shortly thereafter the mood already turned: For 100 days fans loved the new head of Xbox, now she hits the reset button: “It can’t go on like this”
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