An Xbox Series X console exclusive game from earlier this year remains the biggest flop of 2025, more than halfway through the year. To understand why, it is important to define what a flop is. In order for a video game to be a flop, there has to be level of anticipation achieved before the game’s release. In this regard, a flop is not automatically the worst game of the year. If a terrible looking game comes out and it is as terrible as everyone thought that is not really a flop, it is just a terrible game. Likewise, if a game has major red flags going into release, can you call it a flop when it releases and it’s not good? For example, there was some anticipation for MindsEye, but going into that release the red flags were clear and abundant, and thus nobody was exactly surprised it was a disaster at release. To call this a flop doesn’t seem an accurate description. For a game to be a flop, it typically has to have some level of anticipation behind it, whether because it looks good or it is being made by a high-profile developer/publisher in the industry.
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Of course, when defining what is and isn’t a flop, you also need to consider the data: its critical performance, its consumer reception, and its commercial performance. These are the three great indicators of success, and consequently, the indicators of what is and isn’t a flop.
All of that said, there is a case to be made that South of Midnight is 2025’s biggest flop so far. Is it comparable to last year’s biggest flop, Concord? Not at all, but there actually haven’t been many flops this year. There have been some bad games, like Mindseye. There was also FBC: Firebreak from Remedy Entertainment, but that never really generated a ton of interest given that it was not a classic Remedy game but something new and experimental, and frankly something that never looked good. South of Midnight had ample anticipation though, partially because it is an Xbox game, yet it came out and next to nobody cared.
Xbox Game Pass Performance
When South of Midnight released on April 8, 2025, it was immediately available via Xbox Game Pass. As an Xbox Game Studios release, and considering the marketing behind it, you would expect it shot to the top of the Xbox Game Pass charts, but it did not. At release, it was the 7th most-played game on there, behind releases like Asphalt Legends and Commandos Origins, which aren’t exactly the biggest competition. So, if you were going to suggest its poor commercial performance was simply the result of mass adoption on Xbox Game Pass, you would be wrong.
Dead on Steam
On Steam, it was really bad for South of Midnight. Its peak concurrent player count on Steam is 1,438 players. For those that don’t follow Steam concurrent player trends, this is atrocious. Let’s put this number into context with some comparisons though. The game many point to as the biggest flop of 2025 so far, MindsEye, managed to nearly double this with 3,302 players. 3,302 is still terrible yet almost double. Speaking of double, this is only about double of what Concord posted with its 697 player peak. To only have about 700 more players than one of the biggest video game flops of all time is obviously not good.
Perhaps the best comparison is fellow Xbox game Redfall, because it was both a mega flop and also available on Xbox Game Pass the moment it released. It flopped so hard it closed a studio, yet it managed 6,124 players. Again, 6,124 players is not good. In fact, it is terrible; yet it is substantially better than 1,438 players.
Metacritic Score
The best thing going for South of Midnight is its 77 on Metacritic. When that is what you have to hang your hat on though, something obviously went wrong. 77 is a fine score, but it’s not a great score. It’s debatable if it is even a good score, especially for a game with the resources of Xbox Game Studios behind it. This part of the context really matters because some developers and publishers would be over the moon with a 77, but nobody at Xbox Game Studios was jumping up or down when that score was revealed. And it can be argued this score is also inflated, because the Xbox game has a few perfect scores that don’t just inflate the score but juxtapose the majority of the game’s reviews.
Is South of Midnight a bad game? Not at all. It’s a solid release, and the best from Compulsion Games yet. But when you consider its consumer engagement, across Xbox Game Pass, Steam, and more, this isn’t very relevant. South of Midnight is a flop because nobody played it or cared about it, despite extensive marketing and despite the resources of Xbox. South of Midnight came out and it wasn’t a bad game, it was just quickly irrelevant, which is worse.
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