2021 was a winning year for Josef Fares. The new father released "It takes two" which took the gaming world by storm, and the year was crowned with a statuette for best game at The Game Awards, the most notable gala in the industry. Last year, it was announced that the game had sold 20 million copies.
Josef Fares has great confidence in his games, but not even he had suspected that the game would reach so far.
No, no one had a clue. There was no one who knew it would go so well, it was incredible that it landed like that.
Despite this, few have tried to copy the concept, which is based on the fact that it always requires playing together with another player.
I'm very surprised that there hasn't been more, considering how popular they are. But it's clear that they have a technical design challenge. We've had ten years to become the best in the world at it, and it's no joke that we are right now, he says.
"Total contrasts"
Since then, the studio has grown from 60 employees to 80, and has worked on "Split fiction". This time, the players follow two aspiring authors, Mio who writes science fiction and Zoe who bets on fantasy. They are lured by a publisher who, with new technology, will allow readers to experience the stories in a virtual reality. After some turmoil, the main characters end up in the same simulation, which therefore oscillates between fantasy and sci-fi.
They are really total contrasts. We will get to know them more, who they are, their trauma, where they come from and why they wrote the stories.
The main characters often have different abilities, which require cooperation to move forward. For the studio, the challenge has been to find mechanics that complement each other, are fun and add something.
It's about trying, trying, trying, so we find something that's "there we have it" and then we run with it.
"Split fiction" is approximately as long – 14 hours – as "It takes two", but a bit harder, according to Fares. The reviewers have praised the game, which is at 91 out of 100 on Metacritic.
"So damn cute"
Over the past three years, Fares' company Hazelight Studios has had a result of over 200 million kronor per year. There was great attention when Fares, during a makeup break in SVT's Carina Bergfeldt, donated 300,000 kronor to biathlete Ella Halvarsson.
That's typical of me. I'm very spontaneous. She's so damn cute, I got a feeling, it just felt good, he says.
Josef Fares was an established film director ("Jalla! Jalla!", "Kopps", "Zozo") when he around 2010 shifted to focus on games.
The first game was "Brothers: A tale of two sons" (2013), followed by "A way out" (2018) and "It takes two" (2021). Common to the game titles is that they all require two players, either online or with shared screen.
"Split fiction", which was released on March 6, is no exception and is available for Playstation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.
