Hazelight Studios
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Josef Fares |
| Headquarters | , Sweden |
Key people | Oskar Wolontis (studio manager) |
| Products | |
Number of employees | 81 (2025) |
| Website | hazelight.se |
Hazelight Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. It was founded by Josef Fares in 2014 who serves as creative director. The company is best known for developing cooperative multiplayer games published by Electronic Arts under the EA Originals label. Their titles include: A Way Out (2018), It Takes Two (2021), and Split Fiction (2025).
History
Prior to founding Hazelight, Josef Fares was a film director. His first video game project was Starbreeze Studios' Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which received critical acclaim when it was released in 2013. Following the success of Brothers, Fares decided to found a new video game production company based in Stockholm, with the focus of creating a mature, story-focused game.[1] He was joined by the core Brothers development team from Starbreeze, which included Claes Engdal, Emil Claeson, Anders Olsson and Filip Coulianos. The studio was announced at The Game Awards 2014 by publisher Electronic Arts, which also revealed that it would publish the studio's first title. EA allowed Hazelight to share space at DICE so that they could fully focus on creating their game.[2]
The company's first game, A Way Out, was announced by EA at E3 2017. It was part of EA Originals, EA's initiative to support independent games. The program allowed Hazelight to retain full creative control while receiving most of the game's profit after the development cost was recouped. EA gave the team a budget of $3.7 million.[3] The game was released in March 2018 and it received generally positive reviews and sold 1 million copies within 2 weeks.[4] The studio partnered with EA again for their next title, It Takes Two, a co-op platform game released in March 2021.[5] The game won three awards during The Game Awards for Best Family Game, Best Multiplayer Game, and Game of the Year,[6] as well as two awards during the D.I.C.E. Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Game of the Year.[7] Following this, it was announced that Hazelight's next game Split Fiction would be released on March 2025, inspired by Fares' daughters and similar to their last game as a co-op platformer with a sci-fi twist.[8]
Film adaptations
In January 2022, Hazelight announced that they partnered with Dmitri M. Johnson and his company dj2 Entertainment to adapt It Takes Two for television and film.[9] It was then announced in April 2022 that Amazon Studios picked up the project to develop into a film adaptation to be written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller with Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia attached as producers under Seven Bucks Productions.[10]
However, on March 2025, it was announced that a film adaptation of their recent game Split Fiction was in development two week after the game's release, with Story Kitchen (formerly dj2 Entertainment) putting together the film's cast, writers and director. A bidding war took place for rights to the adaptation,[11] with Amazon MGM Studios emerging as the winner on June 2025.[12] By April, Jon M. Chu is attached to direct the adaptation, with a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and Sydney Sweeney will star in the film in an undisclosed role and executive produce with Josef Fares in collaboration with Chu's company Electric Somewhere.[13]
Games
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | A Way Out | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, PC | Electronic Arts |
| 2021 | It Takes Two | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | |
| 2025 | Split Fiction | Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S | |
| TBA | Untitled Hazelight Studios project[14] |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Co-producer(s) | Distributor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBA | It Takes Two | Story Kitchen and Seven Bucks Productions | Amazon MGM Studios |
| Split Fiction | Story Kitchen and Electric Somewhere |
References
- ^ Mahardy, Mike (3 May 2017). "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Creator Announces Hazelight Studio". IGN. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Suszek, Mike (8 December 2014). "Here's that teaser from Brothers dev's new studio, Hazelight". Engadget. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Fares, Josef (11 June 2017). "A Way Out creator Josef Fares: 'If you don't like it, you can break my legs'". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Minotti, Mike (13 April 2018). "A Way Out passes 1 million sold". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Nunneley, Stephanny (11 December 2020). "Hazelight reveals co-op adventure It Takes Two at The Game Awards 2020". VG247. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ "The Game Awards Nominees: 'Deathloop', 'Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart' Lead 2021 List". Deadline. 16 November 2021. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details It Takes Two". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (12 December 2024). "Hazelight unveils Josef Fares' Split Fiction co-op buddy adventure that blends sci-fi and fantasy". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (31 January 2022). "'It Takes Two' Developer Hazelight Studios Teams With dj2 Entertainment to Adapt Game for Film, TV (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (20 April 2022). "'It Takes Two' Movie Lands at Amazon, Seven Bucks Productions Joins dj2 Entertainment as Producers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (20 March 2025). "'Split Fiction' Movie in the Works: Bidding War Begins for Rights to Adapt Hit Video Game (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (2 June 2025). "Sydney Sweeney's 'Split Fiction' Movie Lands at Amazon". Variety. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (25 April 2025). "Sydney Sweeney to Star in 'Split Fiction' Film Adaptation From Director Jon M. Chu, 'Deadpool and Wolverine' Writers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
- ^ "'Next Game in the Making': Split Fiction Director Josef Fares Posts Set Photo Which Fans Think is a 3-Player Hint". IGN. Tom Phillips. Retrieved 11 February 2026.