Last week, EA head Andrew Wilson suggested Dragon Age: The Veilguard would have performed better for the publisher had it been a live-service game – a remark that raised eyebrows around the industry, and prompted former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw to state he would “probably, like, quit that job or something” if a company ever suggested this to him.
And, Laidlaw isn’t alone in his condemnation of Wilson’s comments. Hazelight founder Josef Fares – who has regularly partnered with EA to get his games published – has also scoffed at the remark, and said the A Way Out and It Takes Two maker will “never be a live-service game studio”, and live-service will “never be [his] choice.”
Speaking with Eurogamer during a preview event for Hazelight’s upcoming co-op caper Split Fiction, which EA is once again publishing, Fares stressed his aversion to live service games. “We will not have them, I do not believe in them,” he said in no uncertain terms.
“I think [live service] is not the right way to go,” the studio founder furthered. “I hope more and more [developers] focus on their passion, and what they believe in. At the end of the day, we see clearly – and Hazelight is living proof – that when you trust in your vision and go with it, you can still reach a big audience. That’s what I want people to focus on.”
Fares continued: “I have an understanding that publishers have a lot of, you know, worries about the ‘money issue’. But, I think also you have to understand that we are working with a piece of art here, so you have to respect the creativity as well. They have to meet in the middle. You can’t also be too much focused on creativity. You can’t just say ‘give me $100m, I want to do what I want to do’.
“But, there has to be a balance. It can’t just be towards the finance side. So, no, it will not happen with a Hazelight game, ever. I guarantee.”
Split Fiction is set to arrive on 6th March, across PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. For more on how the game is shaping up, you can check out Eurogamer’s Split Fiction preview here.
As for It Takes Two, back in October, Hazelight announced the marital platformer has now sold a rather impressive 20m copies since its release in 2021.
This article is based on a preview oppurtunity for Split Fiction based in Los Angeles, for which EA covered travel and accomodation.
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