Split Fiction Dev Calls EA a ‘Good Partner’ as Hazelight Begins Work on Next Game

Hazelight director Josef Fares has taken the time to clear the air about his studio’s relationship with EA while promising that the It Takes Two and Split Fiction developer is already working on its next game.

The creative behind the infamous “f*** the Oscars” line spoke about Hazelight’s past, present, and future during an interview on the Friends Per Second podcast. For those who enjoyed Split Fiction, the studio’s most recent critically acclaimed co-op adventure, he says the team is already putting some early ideas together.

“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 explained when talking about his mentality after releasing 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.”

Fares declined to share too much about what Hazelight’s mysterious next title is called, what it’s about, or what kind of game it will be, mostly because work only began around one month ago. Hazelight is well known for the mark it’s left on co-op gaming, but for now, we’ll have to wait at least a few more years to hear how it plans to follow Split Fiction.

“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

Hazelight has worked with publisher EA on several titles in the last seven years. While games like A Way Out and It Takes Two have continued to secure the studio’s place as a leading developer in the industry, Fares said the company has had “zero” input when it comes to the games the developer chooses to work on.

“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.”

While EA has a mixed reputation as a publisher, Fares said his experience with EA has been largely positive as Hazelight charges forward to what’s coming next.

“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 easily solidified its place as another Hazelight success story in more ways than one. While it quickly propelled itself to high ratings from critics (IGN’s Split Fiction review returned a 9/10), it also managed to sell 1 million copies in only 48 hours and 2 million copies in just one week. That means it’s already outpacing its previous title, It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies as of October 2024.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).