Split Fiction Creative Director Believes EA Gets More Flak Than it Deserves

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Josef Fares, known for being very direct, thinks EA often receives unfair criticism. He pointed out to The Game Business that companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all make mistakes sometimes, and EA is no different.

According to Fares, EA has many talented people who understand and respect his team’s work, giving them the space to create. He acknowledges that all publishers, including Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, have made mistakes at some point. However, he feels EA unfairly receives a disproportionate amount of criticism and has become unfairly labeled as the ‘bad guy’.

Regarding Hazelight Studio’s partnership with EA, Josef Fares stated that it’s been a positive experience for everyone involved. He admitted EA hasn’t always been perfect, but he emphasized that their working relationship remains strong.

We have a really strong working relationship. I’m being completely honest – if things weren’t good, I’d say so. But it’s a great partnership, even though, like any publisher, they’ve made some mistakes. What’s great about working with EA is that everyone there is a gamer at heart. It’s not a room full of corporate suits; it’s people who genuinely love games. And fans shouldn’t worry, because Hazelight will always stay true to its vision.

During the interview, Fares also discussed the growing popularity of well-made, smaller-budget ‘AA’ games. He expressed concern that publishers might treat this as just another fleeting trend. While he appreciates these more focused games, he pointed out that you can’t create a massive, groundbreaking game like a new Grand Theft Auto with only $10 million. Ultimately, he’s hoping the industry can support a healthy mix of games of all sizes and budgets.

He noted that with the success of games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, there’s a feeling that mid-budget, or ‘AA’, games are becoming dominant. However, he stressed the importance of big-budget, ‘AAA’ titles, pointing out that creating a game on the scale of GTA requires a substantial investment. He believes both types of games are necessary and cautioned against fixating on trends. It’s important to have variety in the market. He hopes publishers won’t overreact to the success of games like Expedition and mistakenly believe that only AA games are the future, as many similar games have been released recently without gaining much attention. We need to learn from the past.

Fares announced that Hazelight Studios is working on a new game that they aim to be even more impressive than their previous title, Split Fiction. He also explained that while the studio embraces a philosophy of taking risks and learning from failures – which he described with strong language – they need to be accountable for those failures as well.

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2026-01-15 16:11