Hazelight Studios, the masterminds behind co-op gaming hits such as 2018’s A Way Out, 2021’s It Takes Two and most recently, Split Fiction, have already begun work on its next game, according to director Josef Fares.
During an interview on Skill Up’s Friends Per Second podcast, Fares spoke on the future of the studio, explaining that the team has already gathered early ideas for its next title. “For me, personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it.” he said, “[Split Fiction] 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.”
Apart from this exciting tease, Fares avoided sharing too much info on the next project due to its infancy, as work only began a month back. “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 for] more than three or four years, [which 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. And we started working on this a month ago-ish.”
Based on the studio’s repertoire, it will be interesting to see what’s in store for its upcoming title, considering it has already tackled a wide range of genres, from grounded thrillers to fantasy and sci-fi. Based on their track record though, it’s safe to say that its next game will still be co-op exclusive, which has become a niche that the studio excels at.
Apart from teasing his next project, Fares also took the time to clear the air about Hazelight’s relationship with publisher Electronic Arts (EA), who have a rather negative reputation as of late. Despite this, Fares claims that his experience working with EA has been a positive one and that they were given the creative freedom to build the game without external interference.
“Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them. With that said, I have to say, they’re a good partner,” Fares noted, “Nobody believes me. Whatever I say, they’re like, ‘Yeah… It’s EA.’ Look, I don’t know anything about what EA are doing. Maybe they’re f**king up with other developers. With us, no. They respect us [and] what we do. I’m very clear with them that they cannot interfere. Now, we have become one of their most successful studios.”
Fares’ comments do ring true, considering the massive success Split Fiction received after its launch on 6 March, not only garnering positive ratings across the board but shattering studio sales records with over one million copies sold within two days. Whatever next title the studio has in store, let’s hope it does as well, if not better than the already high expectations set by its predecessors.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
