Hazelight director Josef Fares recently provided clarity on his studio's relationship with EA and announced that the team behind the successful games It Takes Two and Split Fiction is already working on their next project. Fares, known for his candid comments including the infamous "f*** the Oscars" line, shared insights into Hazelight's journey during an interview on the Friends Per Second podcast. For fans of their latest critically acclaimed co-op adventure, Split Fiction, Fares revealed that the team is beginning to explore new ideas.

"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,'" Fares explained, reflecting on his mindset post-Split Fiction. "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."

Fares remained tight-lipped about the specifics of Hazelight's upcoming title, citing the project's early stage, having only begun about a month ago. While Hazelight is renowned for its contributions to co-op gaming, details about their next game will likely remain under wraps for a few more years.

"There is a reason why I can't talk about the next game; it's because it's quite early," Fares noted. "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 mixed 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 praised EA as a positive partner, despite skepticism from others. "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 solidified Hazelight's reputation but also achieved remarkable commercial success. Earning a 9/10 from IGN, the game sold 1 million copies within 48 hours and 2 million copies in just one week, outpacing its predecessor It Takes Two, which had sold 20 million copies by October 2024.