THE COST OF JOY Documentary From WE HAPPY FEW Developer Compulsion Games Discusses Microsoft Partnership

Indie games are beloved and easier to get your hands on than big name titles - but it isn't often that we put how much thought into how difficult it must be to produce them. Recently the developer Compulsion Games teamed with Microsoft to ease some of these pains.

Now the developer has released a new documentary called The Cost of Joy going into the differences of being independent versus having the backing of Microsoft. Founder and Creative Director Guillaume Provost stated in the video that their new partnership with Microsoft erased some of their hurdles and blockades that they had become used to facing as an Indie Game Developer.
"That's actually removed a lot of the focus from finding where we're going to find the next paycheck to actually concentrating on what is it that we need to make great games. I can be more forward-looking to what we actually need in order to actually succeed. And [there's] a huge difference from having a big backer like Microsoft that's allowing us our creative space and our creative freedom, from being an independent developer that's starving all the time and looking for money. Build the team not just for the next game, but for the next series of games." Producer Sam Abbott and Community Developer Naila Hadjas assure that Microsoft encourages creativity.

"Trying to maintain creativity inside an organization like Microsoft is not as hard as people think it is. It's really just about having a leadership group inside Microsoft that understands the value of creativity and creative games. We have been told to keep making really weird, just different things. So, on the creative standpoint, it's just been all positive."

It definitely sounds like this partnership is a win-win for both Microsoft and the studio and it seems that going forward fans should expect more content from them. While it isn't confirmed, the studio is expected to deliver a title for the XBOX Series X, Microsoft's next generation console which is scheduled to launch during the holiday season of 2020.

See the full documentary from Compulsion Games titled The Cost of Joy for yourself in the video below!

When you go from a handful of indies to the world stage, it's not all Joy. In The Cost of Joy, Compulsion Games takes you on the studio’s origins, the development of We Happy Few, and their introduction as a Microsoft studio through archival footage and new in-depth interviews.

What are your thoughts on these comments from Compulsion Games? Have you had the chance to play We Happy Few yet? If not make sure to see the launch trailer for yourself below!

We Happy Few is a narrative-driven action-adventure game set in a retrofuturistic 1960s England. Uncover the mystery of Wellington Wells as you play through the interwoven narratives of three moderately terrible citizens trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial.