PC Gamers Show Little Interest in Xbox's South of Midnight

The game has been released on Steam to positive reviews but low player numbers.

South of Midnight, a new action-adventure game with a Deep South setting and a striking Arcane-like art style, developed by We Happy Few creator Compulsion Games and published by Xbox, has been quietly released to little fanfare, joining the growing list of Microsoft titles that have failed to make a significant impact with players.

Microsoft

Repeating the path of Avowed and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, South of Midnight launched on April 8 to a very positive reception, with 92% of Steam reviews giving it a thumbs up and praising nearly every aspect – from its atmosphere and story to its gameplay and visuals. When it comes to the latter, even within the remaining 8% of reviews, one would struggle to find any negative feedback regarding SoM's graphics, with some negative reviews specifically noting that they have no gripe with and even liked the art style.

But following in Avowed and Great Circle's footsteps also comes with an unpleasant caveat, as the game's player numbers on launch day turned out to be substandard – especially for a title backed by a company as powerful as Microsoft – peaking at just 1,411 players and showing no signs of rebounding in any meaningful way over the weekend.

While it's clear South of Midnight hasn't struck a chord with PC gamers, some have noted that the game is also available on Xbox Game Pass and may be seeing more traction on console. Unfortunately, unlike Steam, Xbox doesn't provide easily accessible player data, making it impossible to gauge how well the stylized Louisiana adventure is performing there.

Others have also argued that comparing SoM's numbers to other Xbox-published titles isn't entirely fair, given it's a AA game rather than a AAA release. Still, a 1.4K peak seems disappointingly low even by AA and indie standards, especially when compared to something like the latest talk of the town Schedule I, created not even by a team but by a solo developer, which recently peaked at 459K players and continues to grow daily.

And what do you think of South of Midnight? Have you had a chance to try it yet? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Comments 8

Anonymous user
I love the game. Great story and beautiful graphics/art direction. Maybe like myself, there's a lot of PC players that downloaded it and are playing it directly from PC Game pass instead of Steam. So taking one marketplace that the game is available and judging how it's doing just by that isn't getting the full picture of how it's doing.
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Anonymous user
·3 days ago·
Anonymous user
It's on Gamepass. I'm a PC gamer and playing it on Gamepass. Many are.
2
Anonymous user
·2 days ago·
Anonymous user
I'm one of the usual one that usually dislike the so-called DEI games, you all know the ones.. Usually because of the storyline and narrative choices.. Not so much the gameplay, art style and what not.. However, I do agree.. SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT is an amazing, beautiful narrative game. It would've been better as a movie, to be honest.. Pixar? Netflix? Dreamwork? Who knows.. But this is a beautiful art piece. I appreciate it 💯. I'd give it 4/5. The one that is abit hard for me is the action/battle.. But it's probably my skill issue lmao. I might have iffy feeling with SBI, but I won't generalise all the games as the same, that's a fallacy, and I'll try the games before I'll rate them.. And this? Is magic.
2
Anonymous user
·2 days ago·
Anonymous user
I'm very curious to know the Xbox player numbers. I'm playing on my console through game pass and having an amazing time. A fun adventure game that looks uniquely beautiful and I don't need to think too much. After a long day at work this is exactly what I'm looking for.
3
Anonymous user
·2 days ago·
Anonymous user
Its boring, bad combat, no new game plus, no custumization, short, and 40 dollars.
-2
Anonymous user
·3 days ago·
Anonymous user
Sweet baby inc is the kiss of death in any media..we all saw the original white ginger haired woman who was originally poised for the protagonist, only to be (again, there's a pervaying trend in modern media to replace ginger characters with black ones) changed into yet another self insert of Kim bel air... besides , the combat is awful
-1
Anonymous user
·3 days ago·
Anonymous user
South of Midnight is a very solid game. The story is captivating, and the MC feels very realistic in her responses and the writing. I knew it wouldn't be loved by everyone, because some gamers have a habit of not liking minority characters being the leads. (Putting it lightly)

I feel like this is a great time for a game about emotional healing and understanding others.
2
Anonymous user
·3 days ago·
Anonymous user
I don't know why south of Midnight is great overall. combat might be a little repetitive but the story the Games art work is good. if you like me that don't like souls style combat this might be your game. and I like the southern style folklore .
3
Anonymous user
·3 days ago·

PC Gamers Show Little Interest in Xbox's South of Midnight

Microsoft

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