TGA 2021’s GOTY It Takes Two was always going to be a tough act to follow, but this is the reality of the huge task facing the developer’s newest title, Split Fiction, which was announced at The Game Awards. The game tells the story of Mio and Zoe, two writers who find themselves trapped in the contrasting worlds they have created in their books. In Split Fiction, the pair will have to move between these worlds and work together to escape.
Game Rant recently caught up with Hazelight’s founder Josef Fares to discuss Split Fiction in more detail. He was eager to convey his excitement about the project, and how it varies wildly compared to other games he’s worked on. Fares talked about how he believes that a project born out of passion is easy to spot by fans, who are likely to receive it more positively as a result.
Related
Split Fiction Hands-On Preview: Hazelight Continues to Impress With Boundless Creativity
Game Rant plays Split Fiction with Hazelight’s Josef Fares, whose latest game is even more inventive than GOTY winner It Takes Two.
Split Fiction Attempts to Push the Boundaries Even Further Than It Takes Two
Split Fiction‘s protagonists, Mio and Zoe, have each created a very different world through the books they have written. Mio’s is a sci-fi world, filled with futuristic tech and weaponry, whereas Zoe’s is a fantasy world, complete with castles and dragons. The potential to regularly cross between these worlds is an exciting one that should throw up plenty of interesting gameplay possibilities, but meshing together two disparate genres is a financial risk. Fares explained that Hazelight is not interested in whether other games do well or sell poorly in the market. Instead, the studio is more concerned with creating unique games they are passionate about, and hopefully, the rest should look after itself:
”We’re not looking at a market in terms of what’s working and what’s not working. I literally don’t give a f*ck what’s working or not working. I truly believe, even if it sounds a bit silly, if you do something out of passion and creativity, people sense that.
It Takes Two
sold over 20 million copies. I think that comes from a place where people can sense that what we have done is that we’ve just gone with our intuition and what we love to do.”
Hazelight Continues to Raise the Bar With Each Project
Fares’ passion for his work is evident, and this shines through in the projects he is involved in. Even for Fares himself, though, it was probably hard to predict just how successful It Takes Two would be. Having recently surpassed the 20 million mark in terms of copies sold, it has well and truly put itself on the map as one of the most successful co-op games ever made. For some studios, the game’s success would provide an easy blueprint to replicate via sequels, but Fares was quick to explain that, for Hazelight, it’s all about pushing boundaries and trying new things:
”I don’t think anybody is making the same games as us, but for me, I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just believe that we make the games we love to play and that’s pretty much how everything started. I just believe that in this industry, we have a huge amount of creativity that hasn’t been explored yet. I just hope that Hazelight is part of pushing the medium forward because I really love the gaming industry so it’s just good to be part of it, to push forward with each of these new games.”
It can’t be denied that each Hazelight game so far, A Way Out and It Takes Two, has brought something new to the table, particularly to the co-op genre. It seems Split Fiction will be no different in that regard. With only a relatively short window until Split Fiction launches, fans should expect to see plenty more of the game within the coming weeks and months.
Action
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Fantasy
- Released
- March 6, 2025
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op , Local Co-Op