Hazelight director Josef Fares has taken the opportunity to clarify his studio's relationship with EA while also announcing that the team behind the successful games It Takes Two and Split Fiction is already hard at work on their next project.

Fares, famously known for his outspoken comment, “f*** the Oscars,” shared insights into Hazelight’s past, present, and future during an interview on the Friends Per Second podcast. For fans of their latest critically acclaimed cooperative adventure, Split Fiction, Fares mentioned that the team is beginning to brainstorm early concepts for their next game.

Reflecting on his approach after releasing Split Fiction, Fares stated, “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.’ 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 kept details about Hazelight's upcoming project under wraps—mentioning that work began only about a month ago—he assured fans that the studio remains committed to its signature co-op gaming style. However, he cautioned that it may be a few years before more information is available.

“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 multiple titles. Despite EA's sometimes controversial reputation, Fares emphasized that the publisher has had “zero” influence over 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 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.”

Fares went on to praise EA as a partner, acknowledging that while the publisher may have its critics, his experience with them has been positive. “With that said, I have to say, they’re a good partner,” he 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 cemented Hazelight's status as a leading developer but has also achieved remarkable commercial success. It received high praise from critics, with IGN awarding it a 9/10 in their review. Additionally, the game sold 1 million copies within the first 48 hours and reached 2 million copies sold within a week. These figures indicate that Split Fiction is already surpassing the sales of its predecessor, It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies by October 2024.