We haven’t even reached the halfway point of the year and we may have already gotten the best game of 2025. No it’s not Monster Hunter Wilds.

We’ve only just reached March, the third month of the year, and there’s already a race for Best Game of 2025. We’ve gotten big hits like Monster Hunter Wilds and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 that have been follow ups to critically acclaimed favorites. But one game has emerged and reached even further.

Hazelight continues to make bangers. | Image Credit: Hazelight Studios

Hazelight Studios made It Takes Two, the 2021 Game of the Year, and four years later, they’ve made another contender, Split Fiction. Hazelight’s latest title came out on March 6 and is already the highest rated title of the year. Despite the competition set by Monster Hunter Wilds and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Split Fiction has set itself up as a Game of the Year contender.

We may have already gotten the Best Game of 2025

Monster Hunter Wilds has competition. | Image Credit: Capcom

Hazelight Studios has a history of creating beloved co-op games, but Split Fiction is taking things to a whole new level. The game has broken a 13-year dry spell for EA with its 90+ Metacritic score. This is the first EA published game to do this since Mass Effect 3 in 2012. As of now, Split Fiction has an impressive 91 on Metacritic and a 98% “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam. We couldn’t be happier.

Highest-rated games of 2025 so far on Metacritic 🎮 pic.twitter.com/Vp64AcXQjN

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) March 11, 2025

If critical success wasn’t enough, Split Fiction has also achieved extraordinary commercial success. Within two days of launch, the game sold over one million copies, a milestone that It Takes Two took nearly a month to reach. On Steam alone, the game peaked at 259,000 concurrent players, far surpassing It Takes Two‘s record of 71,000.

This isn’t to say that other games haven’t been as successful. When Monster Hunter Wilds was revealed at The Game Awards 2023, expectations were sky-high. And we can safely say that Monster Hunter Wilds has delivered. Capcom’s latest entry in the beloved franchise sold 8 million copies within 3 days and has become the fastest-selling game ever for the developer.

SPLIT FICTION sold 1 MILLION copies in its first 48 hours!!!

The love you all show for our game is overwhelming! 😍
Everyone here at Hazelight are beyond happy – and we can’t stop enjoying your amazing reactions! 🤩#SplitFiction pic.twitter.com/BiyCiPNqMU

— Hazelight Studios (@HazelightGames) March 10, 2025

If anything was holding Monster Hunter Wilds back, it would be its abysmal optimization on PC. Compared to Split Fiction, it sits at Mixed reviews on Steam with 62% positive reviews. If Astro Bot‘s Game of the Year win last year tells us anything, it’s that gamers vote for fun games that work right out of the box.

But how exactly has Hazelight done it again?

We need more of these games in 2025. | Image Credit: Hazelight Studios

One of the key reasons behind Split Fiction‘s success is Hazelight’s commitment to accessibility. The Friends Pass feature allows two players to experience the game together with just one purchased copy, making it easier than ever to jump into co-op play. In theory, this hurts sales. But like Larian Studios’ Swen Vincke said at The Game Awards 2024, it’s not always about the money.

Although it’s still early in the year, Split Fiction is a strong contender for Game of the Year. But still, we can’t be too hopeful because some big names are coming up. The biggest being Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6). Then there are titles like Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2. So yeah, there’s a LOT more coming.

Regardless, it’s really a breath of fresh air to see Split Fiction‘s commitment to co-op gaming. We live in an era where live-service games Fortnite, Valorant, and Overwatch have become the biggest multiplayer games. But Hazelight has carved out a niche with its unique two-player experiences.