We Happy Few coming August 10 2018, and Compulsion joining the Microsoft Studios family!

Hi everyone,

Today, we have two major announcements to make. Many of you will have already seen the surprise news in the Microsoft 2018 E3 Briefing, but here’s a written summary.

First, we are excited to announce that We Happy Few will release on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC on August 10 2018! We’re also finally ready to talk about the story, so please check out our new story trailer:

Second, over the next few months, we will officially become a Microsoft Studio, joining a family of great developers! This is an opportunity for us to raise our game and build even better and more interesting worlds, and we couldn’t be more excited for the future of the studio. Microsoft has been one of the staunchest supporters of We Happy Few and Compulsion, and we are stoked to become a part of their outstanding family of studios.

This is an overwhelming announcement for us, and the biggest news in the studio’s history. Our CEO and Creative Director, Guillaume, wanted to write a message to everyone about what this means for us:

When you make games that are out of the ordinary, you sign up for a future that’s hard to predict and maybe a little bit weird. To think that we, the 40-person team of Compulsion Games, the people who currently make unusual games from inside an old gramophone factory in Montreal, could become a part of Microsoft Studios is not something I would have predicted a few years ago.

We launched Compulsion Games in 2009 in a leaky office in Montreal, and assembled a team of creators who cared about doing something different.

Back at E3 2016, when we first revealed the introduction to We Happy Few, I was ecstatic to see reactions and predictions from fans and the press. We were excited to take the journey with Xbox Game Preview and craft our game with the input from players. We’re continuing to work on the game for its multi-platform release on Aug 10.

Microsoft Studios has a keen ear for what players want and we’re thrilled to join the team and gain more resources and freedom to fuel bigger creative ideas and more ambitious worlds. More importantly, we’re eager to prove that there truly is a place for a small studio and a different flavor of creativity in the big world of Xbox. It’s our dream to make an Xbox game that’s just as formative for players as the classics we’ve played and loved in the past.

We think this turn in our path is exciting, interesting, different, and just a tad scary (in a good way!). Good thing, then, that those are the qualities we look for in our games.

In short, the future is bright, and we’re alright (to use a quote from We Happy Few). We’re not getting carried away, as our focus for the next year will remain on We Happy Few. Becoming part of Microsoft won’t change anything for fans of We Happy Few, and YES, it will still be coming to both consoles.

And finally, with the release date, preorders are now open again for Xbox One and Playstation 4! We will be reopening preorders on Steam and GOG.com at a later date, once we’re a bit closer to release. Otherwise, we’re showing a demo at E3 this week and hope you will enjoy the coverage. As we finish up work on the game, we’re looking forward to bringing it to you on August 10.

Thank you all, as always, for your support. We would not be here without you.

- Team Compulsion