Hazelight director Josef Fares has recently addressed the studio’s relationship with EA, while also revealing that the team behind It Takes Two and Split Fiction is already hard at work on their next project.
During an insightful interview on the Friends Per Second podcast, Fares, who is famously known for his candid “f*** the Oscars” comment, delved into Hazelight’s journey and what lies ahead. Following the critical and commercial success of Split Fiction, their latest cooperative adventure, Fares shared that the team is buzzing with early concepts for their upcoming 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 remarked about his mindset post-Split Fiction. “This has been a bit extra special. I would say that it’s been the best-received game we have done, but to be honest, everybody is super happy, but I’m so fully-focused and excited on the next thing that we already have started.”
While Fares refrained from divulging details about the new project, citing its infancy—just a month into development—he hinted at the studio's continued commitment to co-op gaming. Hazelight's reputation in this genre means fans will eagerly await more news, though it might be a few years before the full scope of their next endeavor is revealed.
“There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early,” Fares added. “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. Very excited, and we started working on this a month ago-ish.”
A Tale of Two Studios
Over the past seven years, Hazelight has collaborated with publisher EA on several titles. Despite EA's mixed reputation, Fares emphasized that the publisher 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 explained. “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.”
Fares also noted that his experience with EA has been overwhelmingly positive, describing them as a supportive partner. “With that said, I have to say, they’re a good partner,” Fares 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 reinforced Hazelight's standing in the industry but has also achieved remarkable success. It received a 9/10 from IGN and sold 1 million copies within 48 hours and 2 million in just one week, surpassing the sales pace of its predecessor, It Takes Two, which had reached 20 million copies sold by October 2024.
