Hazelight's director, Josef Fares, has recently addressed the studio's relationship with EA and announced that the team behind the acclaimed titles It Takes Two and Split Fiction is already hard at work on their next project. In an interview on the Friends Per Second podcast, Fares, who famously declared "f*** the Oscars," shared insights into Hazelight’s past achievements and future ambitions.
For fans of Split Fiction, Hazelight's latest critically acclaimed co-op adventure, Fares revealed that the team is already brainstorming early ideas for their next game. "For me, personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it. I’m kind of like, ‘OK, here’s the next thing,’" Fares stated, reflecting on his mindset post-Split Fiction. He emphasized that while Split Fiction has been exceptionally well-received, his focus and excitement are now directed towards the next project, which the team started working on about a month ago.
Although Fares kept details about the new game under wraps due to its early stage, he assured fans that Hazelight typically completes a game within three to four years. "There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early," he explained. "You do know, at Hazelight, we don’t work on [a] game more than three or four years. Three or four years is not so far away. Then we’re going to talk more about it. It’s way too early, but just know this: we are very, very, very, very excited here."
A Tale of Two Studios
Over the past seven years, Hazelight has collaborated with publisher EA on several successful titles, including A Way Out and It Takes Two. Fares clarified that EA has had "zero" influence on the games Hazelight chooses to develop. "Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them," he said. "We say, ‘We’re going to do this.’ That’s it. They have zero, and I mean zero, thing to say about what we’re doing next."
Despite EA's mixed reputation, Fares described his experience with the publisher as largely positive. "With that said, I have to say, they’re a good partner," he added. "Nobody believes me. Whatever I say, they’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah. It’s EA.’ Look, I don’t know anything about what EA are doing. Maybe they’re f***ing up with other developers. With us, no. They respect us. They respect what we do. I’m very clear with them that they cannot interfere with what we do. Now, we have become one of their most successful studios."
Split Fiction has not only received high praise from critics, with IGN awarding it a 9/10, but it has also achieved remarkable commercial success. The game sold 1 million copies within 48 hours and 2 million copies in just one week, surpassing the sales pace of its predecessor, It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies by October 2024.
