Hazelight Praises EA as 'Good Partner' Amid Next Game Development

Hazelight director Josef Fares has recently clarified his studio's relationship with EA and shared exciting news about their next project following the success of It Takes Two and Split Fiction. In an insightful interview on the Friends Per Second podcast, Fares, known for his candid remarks including the infamous "f\*\*\* the Oscars" line, delved into Hazelight's past, present, and future endeavors.

Fares expressed that after the release of Split Fiction, Hazelight is already brainstorming early concepts for their next game. He emphasized his personal approach to game development, stating, “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.’” Despite Split Fiction being the best-received game to date for Hazelight, Fares and his team are brimming with excitement and focus on their upcoming project, which they began working on about a month ago.

While Fares remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the new game—its title, theme, and genre—he assured fans that more information would be forthcoming in a few years, given Hazelight's typical development cycle of three to four years. He highlighted the studio's enthusiasm, saying, “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 EA on several titles, including A Way Out and It Takes Two, which have cemented the studio's reputation in the gaming industry. Fares clarified that EA plays a supportive role, with no influence over Hazelight's creative decisions. He stated, “Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them. 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.”

Despite EA's varied reputation among developers, Fares described his experience with the publisher as positive, noting, “With that said, I have to say, they’re a good partner. 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 received high praise from critics, earning a 9/10 from IGN, but it also achieved remarkable commercial success. The game sold 1 million copies within the first 48 hours and reached 2 million copies sold in just one week, surpassing the initial sales pace of It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies by October 2024.