According to GameSpot, developer Compulsion Games has announced that the Xbox and PC exclusive South of Midnight is coming to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 in Spring 2026. The game originally launched in April of this year for PC and Xbox Series X|S, meaning its console exclusivity period will last roughly a year. The action-adventure title, set in the American Deep South, follows a character named Hazel preparing for a massive hurricane. This is the latest in a series of moves, following Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 to PS5 this week and upcoming ports of games like Halo: Campaign Evolved next year. GameSpot’s own review scored the game an 8/10, praising its characters, visuals, and soundtrack. Microsoft’s stated goal is to reach the wider PS5 install base and increase revenue.
The New Xbox Playbook
Here’s the thing: the old console war rules are basically dead. Microsoft isn’t just porting a few old, dusty titles. They’re taking a recent, critically-liked exclusive like South of Midnight—a game that scored an 8/10—and putting it on direct competitor platforms after only about a year. That’s a huge shift. The immediate financial logic is obvious: the PS5’s install base is massive, and selling even a fraction of those users a $70 game is pure profit with most development costs already sunk. But it’s more strategic than that. It turns Xbox from a walled garden you must buy into, into a publishing brand you can access anywhere. The console becomes just one option, not the requirement. It’s a hedge. If someone buys South of Midnight on PS5, Microsoft still wins. They’d just prefer you bought it and subscribed to Game Pass.
What It Means For Gamers
For players, this is mostly good news, right? More people get to play good games. If you only own a PlayStation or a Switch, your library just got a cool-looking new addition. The potential downside, and it’s a real one, is what this does to the incentive to build a must-have, system-selling exclusive. If every “Xbox Exclusive” has a timer counting down to its PS5 release, why would anyone feel the urgent need to buy an Xbox console? The value proposition shifts entirely to Game Pass and ecosystem features like play-anywhere cloud saves. Microsoft seems to be betting that those services, and the convenience of their hardware, will be enough to maintain a core console base. It’s a risky bet, but one they clearly think is worth taking given the economics.
The Developer Dilemma
Now, think about this from Compulsion Games’ perspective. Getting your game onto two additional massive platforms is a dream for any studio. Your art reaches a far bigger audience. But it also introduces complexity. A Switch 2 port, especially, isn’t a simple copy-paste job. It requires significant optimization work to run on what will likely be a mobile-chipset-based device. That’s extra development time and cost. So the timeline makes sense: a year after the initial launch gives them breathing room to build and polish these versions without crunch. The trade-off is that the “wow” factor and marketing buzz for the original Xbox launch might be slightly diminished. Some players might just wait. But in the end, more copies sold means a healthier studio and a better chance at a sequel. That’s hard to argue with.
