There’s no denying that Split Fiction was one of the most anticipated titles that was revealed back at the 2024 Games Award. It’s yet another co-op multiplayer title that’s been developed by Hazelight Studios. The game takes players through the worlds imagined by authors Zoe and Mio.
In the last couple of months, Hazelight has been dropping bits about the game here and there, which got gamers all hyped up. However, there was one criticism: the game felt like it was recycling a formula that was seen in Hazelight’s previous smash hit, It Takes Two. However, the Split Faction director doesn’t believe so.
Split Faction is a natural evolution of It Takes Two formula
While chatting with Xbox Wire‘s Joe Skerebels, Split Fiction director Josef Fares opened up about the development of Hazelight’s latest co-op narrative adventure. He shared his excitement for the game and was absolutely proud of the scale and complexity of what the developers had managed to create.
Considering the fact that Split Fiction requires two players, either locally or online, to enjoy the experience and uses the same split-screen mechanics, one might think that Hazelight has just lazily copied its previous games. However, Fares doesn’t believe that the case is as the game is a leap forward in terms of mechanics and story experimentation.
It’s a natural evolution. A more mature team, better technical tools, better understanding of design of the mechanics, we’re better at writing a story for co-op, and obviously we’ve become better knowing what and what not to cut early.
Fares considers Split Fiction to be a major step forward for Hazelight Studios. He believes that the studio wouldn’t have been able to create such a game earlier due to its sheer complexity. Fans of the studio’s previous hits will be completely surprised by all the new, unique, and magical ideas that can be found in Split Fiction. To top it all off, it even runs smoothly on an old potato PC, something you rarely find in games this year!
Split Fiction isn’t recycling anything that was previously given to us by Hazelight. It’s just taking the best parts and evolving them to deliver a completely fresh experience. It’s this unique approach to development that has allowed the studio to set itself apart from the rest of the industry.
Hazelight Studios would never use microtransactions
In an interview with MinnMax’s Ben Hanson, Fares answered various questions related to Split Fiction and also talked about the studio’s past projects and the future.
At one point during the conversation, Fares stated that Hazelight would never bring microtransactions to its game. According to him, that kind of design strategy simply isn’t something that Hazelight appreciates.
With the big companies acquiring gaming studios left and right, there’s been some interest in Hazelight as well. However, Fares has no plans to sell the studio and has further stated that it would never be out on the stock market either.
Fares also revealed how Split Fiction‘s original code name was “Split.” The developers also considered giving it the title Worlds Apart. However, the studio ultimately settled on Split Fiction because it wasn’t generic like the others.
With that said, are you enjoying Split Fiction? Let us know in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
