Josef Fares – founder of Hazelight Studios and director of game of the year winner It Takes Two, as well as the massively popular Split Fiction – looks back on his past games and tells us their "numbers" really weren't good.
"Here's the thing: there was always a big, big risk in the beginning," Fares says in an interview with the Edge newsletter. "But I have extreme confidence in what we do. I trust in the core [of the idea]. Brothers, A Way Out, It Takes Two – all the numbers looked really, really bad. Now it's different, because we've kind of become this big developer, but still, with those early games, I just felt like, 'The core is great, I just know it.' So, trust in your vision, and go with it fully. Don't back away from that."
It's unclear exactly what "numbers" he means, though, because It Takes Two reportedly sold over 20 million copies by the end of 2024 – but it took a month to get to one million. By contrast, Split Fiction sold one million in just two days, so clearly Hazelight is on the up.
Fares may have been referring to wishlists, pre-orders, some sort of market research to do with how much people wanted co-op games.
In our Split Fiction review, we wrote that the title "cements Hazelight as the master of co-op games." I've loved Fares' games since his first, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and I'm glad he's had the support and investment from publishers to keep making the kind of co-op games he loves, too.
Fares also praises EA in his Edge interview, saying: "I'm gonna give EA props for actually believing in, and backing up, the vision. They never interfere. Sometimes, I think they get so much s**t they don't deserve. I don't know how they work with others, but with us, it's super good."
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