It all started when Hazelight Studios director Josef Fares told millions of viewers at The Game Awards 2017, “Fuck the Oscars.” It was a funny and heart-warming moment in a show that is overloaded with ads. After his profanity-filled but otherwise innocuous speech, the show introduced a new gameplay trailer for the 2018 co-op game “A Way Out.”
Little did we know, that was the beginning of the rise of Hazelight Studios. The following year, A Way Out was nominated for Best Game Direction at the Game Awards 2018, but did not win in that category. But it didn’t matter. Because three years later, Hazelight’s co-op successor, It Takes Two, won the coveted Game of the Year award at the Game Awards 2021.
I think it’s right that Hazelight’s next game, Split Fiction, was revealed at Game Awards 2024. Ahead of the announcement, Rolling Stone got a hands-on experience with the hour-long demo and sat down with Fares to discuss why he chose to reveal the game at The Game Awards 2024. Learn about the year’s celebrations, the challenges of building cooperative games, and how to create engaging and innovative play mechanics.
story of two girls
Split Fiction is about two young writers, Zoe and Mio, who are looking to publish their novels and come across a company that specializes in simulation. The technology allows users to play the story in a simulation, but something goes horribly wrong. Zoe is a fantasy writer and Mio writes science fiction, and their simulations become intertwined, forcing them to find a way out of their respective worlds.
Zoe and Mio are actually Fares’ daughters’ names, but he reveals that it’s very deep. “They’re 4 and 2 years old, so their personalities are fine,” Fares said. “It felt very natural because I love my daughters. There are two women as main characters. And Mio and Zoe are really cool names. I don’t think so. ?”
Split Fiction follows sisters Mio and Zeo as they move between sci-fi and fantasy-themed levels.
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The game is an action platformer where two players control Zoe and Mio respectively. Levels have a science fiction or fantasy theme. Each has different types of gameplay mechanics and both girls have their own special traversal abilities. While attending the demo, Fares told me how creative and crazy some of these mechanics and levels are.
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In one sci-fi level, Zoe and Mio are shaped like spheres, and their movements are reminiscent of the Metroid games. Zoe is able to stick to walls, and Mio disintegrates herself into bundles of spider-like particles that allow her to pass through vents. In another area, Zoe has a tether that allows her to remove the cover of the switch while Mio’s lightsaber-like sword hits the switch. Watching their separate abilities work together to solve puzzles is incredibly satisfying. There was also (mercifully) an overwhelming amount of variation.
Similar to It Takes Two (2021), the game is primarily designed as a two-player co-op experience.
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Aesthetically, the sci-fi levels are reminiscent of Tron’s neon look, while the fantasy zones resemble the aesthetics of games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm (2023) and Immortals: Phoenix Rising (2020). Masu. If you look at the game, you’ll see that there’s a lot of meaning behind it,” Fares explains. “It’s hard to say, ‘Oh, this is from that game, this is from that game.’ But we love to pay homage to the games that we love. So we’re going to give it to (other) games. There will definitely be mentions.”
Tackling challenges
In It Takes Two, players could find fun mini-games throughout that gave them a little relief from the difficult co-op puzzles. Split Fiction takes that concept a step further with side stories. Players can find mini-games scattered throughout the game, which are thematically opposed to the sci-fi or fantasy tone of a given level. The side stories in Mio’s sci-fi level are fantasy-themed, and vice versa.
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They are also cleverly integrated narratively into the main story. In one of Zoe’s fantasy side stories, she explains that levels were one of the ideas that stuck with her while she was writing. It’s a gorgeous sandy desert area set inside a giant hourglass, and the girls must work together to find their way out while avoiding hungry sharks in the sand. One of Mio’s sci-fi side stories is based on a video game she played as a child, drawing inspiration from snowboarding games such as the SSX series. In this segment, Mio and Zoe face off in a friendly snowboarding competition to see who can reach the finish line first.
The sci-fi level aesthetic reminds me of the neon look of the Tron movies.
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Fares says the hardest part of creating a game with so many unique mechanics is expecting players to feel each mechanic accurately. “[Athletes]don’t think about that when they snowboard,” he explains. “You’d say, ‘This must feel like a snowboarding game.’ If you like combat, you’d say, ‘I want this to feel like a fighting game.'”
It’s easy to prototype a particular mechanic and try it out, but it needs to be polished to a certain level. Most gamers don’t realize how much work goes into making these mechanics feel good behind the scenes.
This game has a lot of inspiration and wears them lovingly on its sleeve.
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“No one thinks about how long it takes. When you see a game like ‘Devil May Cry,’ of course you feel great, because that’s the only thing[developers]have to work on. ” he says. “For us, the mechanics only work on one level. There are levels where you fight for like 10 minutes and that’s it. But as a player, you expect a good fight, right?”
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Over the past decade, the video game industry has been moving away from in-person trade shows and toward digital showcases. Nintendo regularly holds their own “Directs” and Sony has created its own “Direct” called State of Play. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated this transition. Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was the biggest gaming convention of the year, and although there were plans to revive it, the E3 brand was ultimately discontinued.
Each area has its own mechanics, and the tone and tempo are constantly changing.
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Still, Fares sees value in attending in-person shows, including the Game Awards, which are watched by millions of people. He says there’s a palpable energy in the room because of the audience.
“It’s much more fun to perform something where there’s an audience. It’s different than just putting together a showcase,” he says. “You want to interact with them. That’s why I love The Game Awards, because it’s such a great place to show something.”
Earlier this week, Hazelight posted a teaser video for Split Fiction’s announcement at Game Awards 2024, where the developer promoted the new title. “To have a game like this in front of you,” he says. Play it and you’ll see what I mean. ”And perhaps that bravado is warranted. After all, It Takes Two won the title of “Game of the Year” from numerous fans and publications.
The developer promises a rich narrative in line with Fares’ past works such as A Way Out (2018).
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When I told Fares that I breathed a sigh of relief about the release date of Split Fiction, he asked me why. I spoke to him about February’s busy release calendar and all the games coming out that month. “Yeah, but that’s not what this game is about,” he joked. “All the other games should stay out of the way of this one.”
Split Fiction is scheduled to be released on March 6, 2025 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
