Hazelight’s latest co-op masterpiece, Split Fiction isn’t just a hit, it’s a revolution and as usual, Josef Fares has plenty to say about it.
If there’s one thing the gaming industry can count on, it’s that Josef Fares will never, ever be boring. The man behind Hazelight Studios has built a reputation not only for creating some of the best co-op games out there but also for saying whatever the hell he wants, whenever he wants.
A still from Split Fiction | Credits: Hazelight Studios
He’s here to talk about Split Fiction, the latest co-op rollercoaster from Hazelight that’s already breaking records. And, of course, he has plenty to say, not just about his game, but about the state of the industry, interviews, and why he refuses to filter himself. Oh, and he casually helped EA break a 13-year streak of not having a game score above 90 on Metacritic. No big deal.
Josef Fares has no filters, and he’s fine with that
A still from Split Fiction | Credits: Hazelight Studios
In classic Josef Fares fashion, the man has thoughts. Many thoughts. And zero hesitation in sharing them. During an interview with The Guardian, he dropped this gem,
It doesn’t matter where I work or what I do, I will always say what I want. People say to me that that’s refreshing – but isn’t it weird that you cannot say what you think in interviews? Do we live in a f**king communist country? Obviously, you have got to respect certain boundaries, but to not even be able to express what you think personally about stuff? People are too afraid!
Ah yes, the unfiltered wisdom of Fares. While most developers carefully tiptoe around interview questions, delivering polished, inoffensive soundbites, Fares is out here swinging a sledgehammer. And honestly? It’s refreshing. Even if you don’t always agree with him, there’s something inherently entertaining about a guy who refuses to play by the rules of corporate politeness.
It’s also what makes him such a unique presence in gaming. He’s not just a developer, he’s a personality, an entertainer, and, in many ways, a disruptor. Whether he’s calling out industry norms or delivering passionate rants about creative freedom, you can always count on him to keep things interesting.
And unlike so many others in the business, he doesn’t seem to care about ruffling feathers, if anything, he seems to enjoy it. But let’s not get too caught up in his verbal fireworks. There’s a game here that’s making just as much noise.
Split Fiction is a co-op fever dream
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If you’ve played It Takes Two or A Way Out, you already know that Hazelight Studios doesn’t do boring. Their games are like amusement parks, every few minutes, there’s a new ride to try, and somehow, none of them suck. Split Fiction follows this formula but cranks it up even further.
The game’s protagonists, Mio and Zoe, find themselves trapped in recreations of their own sci-fi and fantasy novels, meaning each level is a completely different setting with new mechanics, new enemies, and new over-the-top action sequences.
One moment, you’re fighting in a cyberpunk dystopia, the next, you’re dodging fire-breathing dragons in a medieval kingdom. It’s the kind of experience that never stops surprising you, and it’s exactly why players can’t get enough of it.
And speaking of players, according to ScreenRant, Split Fiction pulled in a record-breaking 197,434 players on Steam within just 24 hours of launch. Not bad for a studio that specializes in co-op-only experiences, a genre that many thought was on its way out years ago.
As it eyes the Game of the Year award, Split Fiction currently sits at 91 on Metacritic, making it the first EA-published game to score above 90 in over a decade. That’s right, Fares and his team at Hazelight just casually ended a 13-year drought for one of gaming’s biggest publishers. No pressure, right?
So, what’s next for Josef Fares? More record-breaking games? More unfiltered interviews? More middle fingers directed at prestigious institutions? If history is any indication, probably all of the above. And honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
