Hazelight director Josef Fares recently addressed his studio's relationship with EA and shared exciting news about their upcoming projects. Known for his candid remarks, including the memorable “f*** the Oscars” comment, Fares discussed Hazelight's journey on the Friends Per Second podcast. Fans of the studio's latest hit, Split Fiction, will be thrilled to learn that the team is already brainstorming ideas for their next game.

Fares expressed his forward-thinking approach, 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.’” He highlighted the exceptional reception of Split Fiction, noting it as the best-received game Hazelight has produced to date. However, his excitement is now fully directed towards the new project, which the team started working on about a month ago.

While Fares remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the new game, he assured fans that more details would be shared in the coming years. Hazelight's reputation for innovative co-op gaming continues to grow, but patience will be key as the next title is still in its early stages. “There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early,” Fares explained. “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 successful titles, including A Way Out and It Takes Two. Fares emphasized that EA's role has been purely supportive, with zero influence over Hazelight's creative decisions. “Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them,” he clarified. “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 mixed reputation in the industry, Fares praised their partnership, 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 further cemented Hazelight's status as a leading developer, achieving critical acclaim with a 9/10 from IGN and selling 1 million copies within 48 hours, and 2 million copies in just one week. This impressive performance surpasses that of It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies by October 2024, underscoring Hazelight's continued success and growth in the gaming industry.