Top co-op dev open to returning to single-player experiences. Josef Fares reveals new details of Split Fiction

Josef Fares shared new information about the highly anticipated Split Fiction and revealed that he may develop a single-player game again in the future.

Adrian Werner

February 28, 2025 02:17

Source: Hazelight

Thanks to A Way Out and It Takes Two, the developers from Hazelight studio have earned a reputation as masters of co-op games. The team's next project, Split Fiction, also belongs to this category. However, it appears that the devs are open to developing a single-player title in the future.

This information comes from an interview that the head of Hazelight Studios, Josef Fares, gave to the MinnMax channel. As he said:

Co-op will always be in our DNA, but the first game, Brothers, is single-player and who knows in the future what will happen.

Speaking of Brothers, Fares refers to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons from 2013, which he designed while still working at Starbreeze Studios. This game offered both co-op and singleplayer mode. So most likely, Hazelight could develop this type of title in the future. All three games from the team—A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Split Fiction—don't allow for solo play.

Split Fiction - more details

During the interview, Fares also revealed further information about Split Fiction.

Finishing the game will take about 12-15 hours, similar to the case with It Takes Two.
Split Fiction had almost twice the budget of It Takes Two.
One of the fantasy levels allows characters to change shape. On science fiction maps, a grappling hook is always available, serving as a basic movement mechanic in these areas.
Fares is certain that in Split Fiction, players will find things that have never appeared in games before.
Split Fiction won't receive any DLC after its release.
The game will offer a Friend's Pass feature, which allows you to invite another player to play for free. What's important, this feature will enable crossplay, allowing us to invite someone using a different hardware platform.
Sales of It Takes Two have exceeded 23 million copies. Notably, China accounts for half of this.
Fares also underlined that the Hazellight studio isn't for sale. He added that the team will not introduce any microtransactions, nor will it debut on the stock exchange. The only thing that interests these developers is making games.