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Josef Fares is a passionate creator, innovator, and a bold leader. These qualities have long served him well as the Director of Hazelight Studios, where he's built a reputation for delivering emotionally charged and deeply immersive interactive entertainment experiences. Known for his unique style and knack for blending humor, heart, and innovative gameplay, Fares has captivated the gaming world with his work on titles like A Way Out and critical darling It Takes Two. And now, after years of anticipation and dedication, Josef is back with Hazelight's latest creation: Split Fiction.
We sat down with Josef prior to launch (available March 6 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and through the EA app) for an exclusive Q&A to dive into the creative process behind Split Fiction, the challenges of bringing such a complex vision to life, and one level in particular that he believes is something that has never been seen before in video games. Let's dive in!
Hey Josef! Thank you for joining us today. If you'll allow me to jump right in, I'd like to start with asking about the narrative of this game. Much like your prior works in games such as A Way Out and It Takes Two, Split Fiction seems to be tackling just as big of themes and ideas, but with a different foundation. What did utilizing the premise of aspiring writers set in a new tech age allow you to narratively explore that you haven't in prior works?
Thank you very much for having me. And I'm sorry, as I won't be able to speak to many specifics at this stage. But I can say that most, if not all, of this story is truly about friendship. That's it. It's about two entirely different people, who are finding ways to connect to one another. This journey will throw unexpected twists at Mio and Zoe, and if they want to make it through, they'll need to have each other's backs. They'll encounter bizarre situations as they work through stories born from their own wild imaginations. Most importantly-they'll face it all together I wish I could say more! But for now, this is what I'll say—it's about friendship.
Speaking of, what can you tell me about the relationship between these two characters, Mio and Zoe, and how their friendship impacts the story.
Hmm! Well, one is an introvert, and the other is an extrovert. They're really each other's opposites, you know. And that's what makes the story very interesting. And one choice that is going to be obvious from the beginning is that they don't like each other's genres. They're a complete and total contrast.
But, throughout their journey we the players will start to understand and learn more about them, who they are, what helped form them into the people they are. Where their deepest fears come from, and so on and so forth, and through that they will start to find a connection. That perhaps they are more similar than they think they are. I do believe that sometimes we think we're very different from other people. But we are actually a lot closer than we are apart.
Are there any aspects of the game that you are particularly excited about showcasing to players and fans that they haven't seen from you before?
Oh, for sure. I'm really excited to see how people react to the final level, you know. That's something that I keep saying that players haven't seen before. I'm super proud of what we managed to put together there, and I think it's something that has not been seen in video games before.
What was the initial idea behind Split Fiction?
The initial idea was about combining the sci-fi and fantasy genres-that felt very intriguing. And once we started looking at that more deeply, I remember thinking, "Oh, there must be a lot of TV shows and movies that are doing this." But there wasn't. There was actually none done in this way. I mean, you have parallel universes and stuff, but nothing like our idea, and especially not in a video game. So from that perspective, it just felt unique and fresh. That's what Hazelight is about-looking for the next innovative thing, and pushing the medium forward.
Wonderful. Thank you for those answers. Now I'd like to talk about your development process. What evolutions have happened at the studio since your last release in 2021?
We have become a more mature team. We have become better-technically-with the tools and engine, and how we can manage to put everything together. This impacts things like the varied amount of gameplay and even how to write a story for co-operative games.
We have become better at everything, really! [Laughs]. How to design the actual mechanics and ensure they feel nice and complement each other in a good way, and feels fun and cool and nice to play with, and how, you know, from a production perspective, we can calculate on what we can polish and not, and know early what we can take away and not take away. Everything.
This next one is a question unique to Hazelight, and I love this. Can you explain the concept of game jams, or, as you call them, "freaky weeks," and how they impact the game dev cycle.
(Laughs). Every idea is welcome here at Hazelight. "Freaky weeks" are where everybody across the team can just go crazy and do whatever they want. And it's not just the designers. It's coders, animators, whoever. It could be the cleaners in here. It doesn't matter. Everybody's welcome.
Amazing. Thank you for that! Now, what have been the biggest challenges for you and your team in developing Split Fiction?
Well, the number one key thing is the amount of variety in the game, you know. We have so many mechanics. It's easy enough to prototype a lot of stuff in the beginning, but to take them to a level where it feels crisp and polished and nice, and fun to play with and feel really good… that's the biggest challenge. But again, we have become very good at knowing what we can take to that level and what not to. So that's why I'm extremely proud of Split Fiction.
Anything else you would like to add?
Split Fiction will keep you on the edge of your seat, and there are some incredible moments in here that will be hard to forget. I'm just really excited for the game to get out there, and I'm looking forward to people getting their hands on it. I know they'll love it.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
We sat down with Josef prior to launch (available March 6 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and through the EA app) for an exclusive Q&A to dive into the creative process behind Split Fiction, the challenges of bringing such a complex vision to life, and one level in particular that he believes is something that has never been seen before in video games. Let's dive in!
Hey Josef! Thank you for joining us today. If you'll allow me to jump right in, I'd like to start with asking about the narrative of this game. Much like your prior works in games such as A Way Out and It Takes Two, Split Fiction seems to be tackling just as big of themes and ideas, but with a different foundation. What did utilizing the premise of aspiring writers set in a new tech age allow you to narratively explore that you haven't in prior works?
Thank you very much for having me. And I'm sorry, as I won't be able to speak to many specifics at this stage. But I can say that most, if not all, of this story is truly about friendship. That's it. It's about two entirely different people, who are finding ways to connect to one another. This journey will throw unexpected twists at Mio and Zoe, and if they want to make it through, they'll need to have each other's backs. They'll encounter bizarre situations as they work through stories born from their own wild imaginations. Most importantly-they'll face it all together I wish I could say more! But for now, this is what I'll say—it's about friendship.
Speaking of, what can you tell me about the relationship between these two characters, Mio and Zoe, and how their friendship impacts the story.
Hmm! Well, one is an introvert, and the other is an extrovert. They're really each other's opposites, you know. And that's what makes the story very interesting. And one choice that is going to be obvious from the beginning is that they don't like each other's genres. They're a complete and total contrast.
But, throughout their journey we the players will start to understand and learn more about them, who they are, what helped form them into the people they are. Where their deepest fears come from, and so on and so forth, and through that they will start to find a connection. That perhaps they are more similar than they think they are. I do believe that sometimes we think we're very different from other people. But we are actually a lot closer than we are apart.
Are there any aspects of the game that you are particularly excited about showcasing to players and fans that they haven't seen from you before?
Oh, for sure. I'm really excited to see how people react to the final level, you know. That's something that I keep saying that players haven't seen before. I'm super proud of what we managed to put together there, and I think it's something that has not been seen in video games before.
What was the initial idea behind Split Fiction?
The initial idea was about combining the sci-fi and fantasy genres-that felt very intriguing. And once we started looking at that more deeply, I remember thinking, "Oh, there must be a lot of TV shows and movies that are doing this." But there wasn't. There was actually none done in this way. I mean, you have parallel universes and stuff, but nothing like our idea, and especially not in a video game. So from that perspective, it just felt unique and fresh. That's what Hazelight is about-looking for the next innovative thing, and pushing the medium forward.
Wonderful. Thank you for those answers. Now I'd like to talk about your development process. What evolutions have happened at the studio since your last release in 2021?
We have become a more mature team. We have become better-technically-with the tools and engine, and how we can manage to put everything together. This impacts things like the varied amount of gameplay and even how to write a story for co-operative games.
We have become better at everything, really! [Laughs]. How to design the actual mechanics and ensure they feel nice and complement each other in a good way, and feels fun and cool and nice to play with, and how, you know, from a production perspective, we can calculate on what we can polish and not, and know early what we can take away and not take away. Everything.
This next one is a question unique to Hazelight, and I love this. Can you explain the concept of game jams, or, as you call them, "freaky weeks," and how they impact the game dev cycle.
(Laughs). Every idea is welcome here at Hazelight. "Freaky weeks" are where everybody across the team can just go crazy and do whatever they want. And it's not just the designers. It's coders, animators, whoever. It could be the cleaners in here. It doesn't matter. Everybody's welcome.
Amazing. Thank you for that! Now, what have been the biggest challenges for you and your team in developing Split Fiction?
Well, the number one key thing is the amount of variety in the game, you know. We have so many mechanics. It's easy enough to prototype a lot of stuff in the beginning, but to take them to a level where it feels crisp and polished and nice, and fun to play with and feel really good… that's the biggest challenge. But again, we have become very good at knowing what we can take to that level and what not to. So that's why I'm extremely proud of Split Fiction.
Anything else you would like to add?
Split Fiction will keep you on the edge of your seat, and there are some incredible moments in here that will be hard to forget. I'm just really excited for the game to get out there, and I'm looking forward to people getting their hands on it. I know they'll love it.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
