Hazelight Studios
CompanySweden
7 documents in the library are about Hazelight Studios, from writers such as The Game Business, Game Developers Conference and GameDev Reports. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.
Connections
The documents about Hazelight Studios on the inner ring, the other games and companies they name on the outer one. Select a cover to see it up close and open it in a new tab; drag to move, pinch or Ctrl + scroll to zoom.
Key figures from the reports
Hazelight Studios has achieved a cumulative sales milestone of 50 million units across its entire portfolio.
GameDev Reports, 2026 · Games and Numbers: April 7 - April 21, 2026
Hazelight Studios has achieved significant commercial success by prioritizing creative vision over market data, resulting in 27 million units sold for 'It Takes Two' and 12 million for 'A Way Out'.
The Game Business, 2026 · Split Fiction’s Josef Fares on Clair Obscur success, AI fears and EA’s reputation, p. 1
On Steam
Steam estimates as of 9 Oct 2026. Revenue is premium revenue on Steam only: game sales, without DLC.
- Revenue as developer
- $524.0M
- 3 games
- Units sold
- 18.8M
- as publisher or developer
- Headquarters
- Sweden
Hazelight Studios’s best-selling games on Steam
| Game | Released | Share of the best seller | Revenue | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split FictionDeveloper | 2025 | $293.8M | 7.6M | |
| It Takes TwoDeveloper | 2021 | $185.6M | 8.1M | |
| A Way OutDeveloper | 2020 | $44.6M | 3.1M |
Documents about Hazelight Studios
Splitting Fiction: The Hardest Level Hazelight Studios Ever Built
The final level of Split Fiction serves as a masterclass in cooperative game design, centering on a split-world mechanic that forces players to navigate synchronized sci-fi and fantasy environments simultaneously.
- Hazelight Studios refined the 'split-world' mechanic into a climactic finale rather than a game-wide feature to manage the high technical and artistic demands of maintaining two synchronized environments.
- The studio achieved visual disparity between sci-fi and fantasy worlds while maintaining performance by utilizing shared collision geometry combined with distinct aesthetic layers like color palettes and foliage.
- Designers forced constant player communication by implementing information asymmetry, where essential data is split between participants rather than allowing one player to lead.
'Advance Access' games - why should you pay more?
Publishers are increasingly monetizing early entry to highly anticipated titles through formal advance access programs, typically charging a premium of ten to fifteen dollars.
- GDC 2027 has restructured its format to a Monday–Friday schedule, moving the festival hall to Tuesday–Thursday and introducing a new Business Hall at Moscone West to centralize networking and mitigate the logistical challenges of the San Francisco venue.
- Advance Access for games like 'Mortal Shell II'—which achieved 23,000 concurrent users—is increasingly being monetized through premium editions that charge a $10–$15 surcharge for early play, effectively creating a market for artificial scarcity and FOMO.
- PlayStation has begun de-listing publishers associated with 'shovelware' or low-effort games designed primarily for easy Platinum trophy farming, though the platform's enforcement remains inconsistent and subject to reversal.
Will Big Walk’s 1m+ Sales Usher in a ‘Co-op Only’ Game Era?
The recent commercial success of the cooperative multiplayer game Big Walk, which achieved over one million sales within its first week of release, serves as a catalyst for examining the viability of the "co-op only" genre.
- House House and Panic’s 'Big Walk' achieved nearly 1 million Steam wishlists at launch without the use of pre-release demos or betas, relying instead on high-profile trailers at The Game Awards and Day of the Devs.
- The game demonstrates the strength of the 'friendslop' genre, with player overlap exceeding 50% for titles like Lethal Company, Risk of Rain 2, and Helldivers 2, despite having only a 6% player overlap with the developers' previous hit, Untitled Goose Game.
- U.S. video game market data for July 2026 shows a 10% year-over-year decline in total spend to $4.5 billion, with console hardware units dropping 39% and spending falling 29% to $282 million, the lowest July total since 2020.
Games and Numbers: April 7 - April 21, 2026
This bi-weekly industry update provides a comprehensive overview of performance milestones for PC, console, and mobile titles between April 7 and April 21, 2026.
- Konami’s eFootball has reached a major mobile milestone, surpassing 1 billion total downloads.
- Hazelight Studios has achieved a cumulative sales milestone of 50 million units across its entire portfolio.
- Bungie’s Marathon generated $55 million in its first three weeks against a reported development budget of $200 million to $250 million.
Split Fiction’s Josef Fares on Clair Obscur success, AI fears and EA’s reputation
Josef Fares, the creative director of Hazelight Studios, emphasizes a philosophy of prioritizing creative vision over market data to drive game development.
- Hazelight Studios has achieved significant commercial success by prioritizing creative vision over market data, resulting in 27 million units sold for 'It Takes Two' and 12 million for 'A Way Out'.
- Josef Fares explicitly rejects taking Hazelight public, arguing that the pressure to satisfy stock market stakeholders forces companies to prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term creative quality.
- The studio maintains a staff of approximately 80 employees and operates under a co-op-only design philosophy that intentionally avoids risk-averse, data-driven decision-making.
Split Fiction’s Josef Fares: “I would not be able to live without AAA titles”
Hazelight Studios director Josef Fares emphasizes the necessity of maintaining a diverse gaming landscape, arguing that the industry requires both high-budget AAA blockbusters and smaller-scale titles.
- Hazelight Studios has achieved significant commercial success with its co-op-only titles, selling 12 million units of 'A Way Out' (2018), 27 million units of 'It Takes Two' (2021), and 4 million units of 'Split Fiction' within its first two months of release.
- Josef Fares explicitly rejects taking Hazelight public, arguing that the pressure to satisfy stock market financial expectations forces studios to make poor creative decisions.
- Fares advocates for a balanced industry ecosystem, warning publishers against abandoning AAA development in favor of a singular focus on AA titles despite the recent success of games like 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33'.
Split Fiction Becomes EA’s Second-Biggest Steam Launch, Triples It Takes Two’s Peak Player Count
Hazelight Studios’ latest co-op title, Split Fiction, has achieved a significant commercial milestone following its March 6, 2025, release on Steam.
- Hazelight Studios' 'Split Fiction' achieved a peak of 254,756 concurrent players on Steam following its March 6, 2025, launch.
- The game ranks as EA's second-biggest Steam launch of all time, trailing only the free-to-play title Apex Legends.
- Split Fiction's peak player count is more than triple the 71,039 record set by the developer's previous title, It Takes Two.
