Hazelight Studios
CompanySweden
Documents about Hazelight Studios
Article
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.
Game Discovery NowAug 2026
Article
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.
GameDev ReportsApr 2026
Article
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'.
The Game BusinessJan 2026
Article
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.
The Game PostMar 2025
