If you're experiencing game crashes, we recommend reviewing our Troubleshooting Guide.

Description: Some players with recent NVIDIA GPUs have reported performance issues (frame rate inconsistencies) when reaching chapter 5.

Status: Investigating. The more information we can collect, the better, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us via our Help Center or the South of Midnight Steam Forums.

Workaround: No known workaround.

• Some people have better result when switching to older NVIDIA drivers.
• Playing on a second monitor might make things worse.

Description: For some TVs, the image may appear washed out or excessively bright when playing content in HDR mode. This issue affects the overall visual experience, particularly in certain chapters (uch as Chapter 5) and in the menus.

Status: Investigating (seems to be related to TV hardware). We have a potential workaround (see below).

Workaround:

• In your console setting, try turning ON/OFF HDR10. It might fix the problem.
• If the problem persists, turn off HDR completely.

Lighting

• Fixed light/shadow flickering in cutscenes on Low, Medium, and High Shadow Settings

Menu and User Interface

• Fixed an error where the 'jump' and 'drop from ledge' actions could be mapped to the same input

Gameplay

• Added 'Pet the Dog' mechanic in Chapter 5

Accessibility

• Various Menu Narration text readout fixes:

1. Fixed Chapter Replay option not being narrated
2. Fixed Menu Narration reading popup button options with their full coding names
3. Fixed the first boot auto configurer pop-up not being read by the Menu Narration system
4. Improved the readout text for the 'Quit' confirmation popup
5. Fixed Menu Narration reading order to read the item name before number
6. Accessibility color options are now read out by their proper color names

• Added subtitles for Kooshma's Cabaret show (Roux's song)

Quality of Life

• In response to community feedback, added new menu options for mouse and camera smoothing to improve control customization

Tech

• Fixed a crash when transitioning from Chapter 11 to Chapter 12 (Xbox Series S only)
• Targeted performance improvements in gameplay and cutscenes
• Level of detail: Adjusted render distances on target objects to reduce popping (kudzu, small plants, animals, etc.)

Gameplay

• Resolved an issue where bottles during the Huggin’ Molly boss fight in Chapter 9 failed to spawn correctly during Phase 3
• Fixed an issue where the player would not receive damage from dropping yarn after being hit by it while standing on a jar during the Chapter 9 Huggin’ Molly boss fight
• Resolved backtracking issue in Chapter 3 that previously blocked player progression (invisible wall at first wall run)
• Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck when standing near the Two-Toed Tom dive-out area during the Chapter 5 boss fight
• Fixed an issue where Two-Toed Tom would not reemerge during the Chapter 5 boss fight if the player fell into the water
• Fixed issue where some mushrooms appeared missing when playing on the lowest graphics settings in Chapter 10
• Fixed various collision blockers in Chapter 2, 10, and 11 where Hazel could navigate out of bounds or get stuck
• Fixed a rare issue where Weave would fail to hit a Haint during combat but still trigger the full cooldown, even though the ability did not successfully activate
• Addressed an issue where Haints would occasionally disappear during combat
• Fixed an issue where the first Crouton upgrade (Crouton Detonation) was missing its intended functionality
• Fixed an issue where using the pull ability on a rock projectile during the camera zoom-in would deactivate the weavable platform
• Fixed an issue where the 14/19 readable could not be collected when approaching the weavable platform from the left side
• Fixed an issue where Hazel would enter a T-pose when grappling immediately after unsummoning the puppet
• Fixed an issue where VFX would remain attached to Hazel's feet when entering or exiting Wall runs quickly

Lighting

• Adjusted the HDR color balance in Chapter 5 to address oversaturation and brightness on lower end HDR screens
• Fixed an issue where the fade to white in HDR would instead fade to a washed-out grey
• Fixed incorrect lighting issues on systems using Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPUs

Menu, Settings and User Interface

• The default key to back out of menus has been changed from ‘Backspace’ to ‘Tab’
• Fixed an issue where pressing ‘Esc’ on keyboard or the ‘Menu’ button on Xbox controller failed to save remapped controls or custom difficulty settings when exiting menus
• Ensured that keys are displayed in English consistently across all languages
• Resolved an issue where the "Applying changes in progress" message for graphics settings was untranslated
• Fixed an issue where the input display would default to "Keyboard" on Xbox if no controller was detected when launching the game
• Fixed an issue where unassigned controls would automatically remain unassigned after quitting the remapping menu and confirming to exit, requiring the player to remap them again
• Fixed an issue on Xbox where enabling HDR would cause pop-ups to appear without a background, making them harder to read

Cinematics

• Fixed a visual issue where one of Molly’s eyelids was misaligned
• Improved the transition from the wound Restore cinematic to Catfish Outro removing camera and Hazel glitch
• Resolved a bug where Hazel's facial expressions were missing and Hazel was flickering during the Chapter 6 Cherie Tree cutscene
• Fixed an issue during the Lacey Argument cutscene where Hazel was incorrectly holding two right shoes

Narrative & Localization

• Fixed multiple localization issues across various languages, including missing subtitles, cut-off subtitles, and incorrect subtitle languages
• Fixed various typos and grammar issues across the lore tab, readables, and other in-game text

Audio

• Implemented various audio fixes, including volume adjustments for improved balance

Happy Global Launch Day!

The main objective of this small patch is to fix a few bugs and crashes.

We've also updated the mouse sensitivity range.

Gameplay – Achievement

• Fixed an issue where achievements for completing boss battles without taking damage were not being awarded

Menu and User Interface

• Fixed a bug where the text language setting was not always saved correctly after being changed
• Fixed an issue where saving settings using the 'ESC' key on the keyboard or the 'Menu' button on the controller did not work correctly
• Issue will still occur in Remapping (customize controller, customize keyboard) and in Custom Difficulty. Workaround is to use ‘backspace’ to save when exiting these specific menus

PC only

• Disabled Nvidia Frame Generation technology to prevent crashes during boot
• Extended the range of the mouse sensitivity slider to allow for finer control over sensitivity settings

EARLY ACCESS PATCH NOTES (VERSION 1.1.0.0)

With Early Access launching today (April 3rd, 2025), we’re sharing the patch notes of the latest title update we submitted before going live worldwide at 12pm EDT.

The main objectives of this patch were to fix remaining crashes, bugs, and targeted visual performance issues (such as popping, lighting, etc).

While playing, if you experience any bugs or issues, please visit our Help Center, where you can find self-service articles or submit a ticket: http://aka.ms/compulsiongamessupport

Happy Early Access launch day!

Tech

• Level of detail: Adjusted render distances on target objects to reduce popping
• Performance improvement in targeted zones
• Fixed more Shader compilation hitches (PSO cache had a code issue)
• General fixes of lighting-related issues
• General fixes of remainder HDR issues
• Optimized Kooshma’s (boss encounter) tick rate

Gameplay

• General pass on collision-related issues
• Targeted Level Design fixes such: camera, volumes, boundaries
• Targeted fixes on Helper Strands (related to specific checkpoints)
• Fixed issues related to perfect dodge window and damage output
• Removed instants of invisible barriers following scripted events
• Fixed checkpoint issues (causing some elements to not appear) in chapter 11
• Two-Toed Tom Boss Encounter:

1. Addressed an issue where players can dodge through Two-Toed Tom’s Tail Slam and Side Bite (without taking damage)
2. Fixed a respawn issues (Hazel could respawn on top of brambles)
3. Fixed a specific spawning issue with Two-Toed Tom

• Rougarou Boss Encounter:

1. Fixed an issue where damage over time from Stunning Shriek continued to damage Hazel during transition sequence
2. Resolved an animation glitch where Rougarou can be seen sliding on the arena

• Kooshma Boss Encounter:

1. Fixed a specific issue where enemies might not spawn when Hazel died mid-air

Cutscenes

• General improvements to animation hitch and freezes in cutscenes
• Fixed water ripple issues in chapter 3 cutscenes

VFX

• Fixed rain VFX issue in chapter 1 (cemetery section)
• Fixed issues with Brute Haint VFX
• Improvements to Water and splashes VFX in Chapter 3, 10, and 11

Localization

• Improvements to display speed of subtitles during cutscenes
• General pass on translation issues: UI, prompts, objectives, strings

Menu, Settings, User Interface, and Accessibility

• Addressed issues where players were unable to use the d-pad to navigate menus
• Fixed an issue where the game could become unresponsive after changing graphics settings
• Fixed an issue where Floofs & Health filaments already collected were not retained if changing the text language
• Fixed a bug where subtitles fonts and size were not always saved
• Fixed an issue where the graphics settings reset pop-up could block the screen when attempting to apply settings while on the reset confirmation pop-up
• Addressed freeze issues when attempting to use the Skip Combat/Boss/Chase sequence during a cutscene or scripted event
• Resolved an issue where the save slot would be overwritten after selecting "New Game" and canceling the start
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from scrolling through readable items after pressing "A" in the Collection menu
• Addressed a problem where players were unable to re-customize the default color profile
• Corrected an issue where loading a synchronized save from PC on Xbox caused the "Last Played" time to display negative values
• Fixed a bug where some notifications were occasionally missing
• Updated the incorrect date in the description of the Belle of Prospero in the Lore menu
• Addressed a problem where the interact and onboarding prompt controls were not updating correctly after remapping