South of Midnight wins Game and Experience of the Year at Games for Change Awards 2026
Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight has been named Game and Experience of the Year at the 2026 Games for Change Awards, held July 21-22. The nonprofit organization’s annual awards recognize the year’s most impactful games and immersive experiences.
The accolade comes just weeks after Compulsion Games announced it was returning to independence following Microsoft’s July 2026 layoffs, which eliminated 3,200 job roles and resulted in the departure of multiple first-party studios. South of Midnight, originally released in April 2025, proved resilient enough to meet the criteria for this year’s awards despite its prior release window.
Other notable winners at the 2026 ceremony included Hexecutable’s Consume Me, which took home Best Narrative, Best Gameplay, and the Indie Breakout Award. Paintbucket Games’ The Darkest Files won Best in Learning. Thatgamecompany received the Industry Leader Award.
The Vanguard Award, recognizing individual contributions to the industry, went to Jenn Panattoni, founder and CEO of Aizle Impact. Panattoni established Xbox’s Social Impact team in 2018, which has raised over $250 million for global campaigns and initiatives.
The recognition underscores the industry’s ongoing focus on games that demonstrate meaningful impact beyond entertainment value, while highlighting the turbulent landscape facing independent and formerly-Microsoft-backed studios in 2026.