Josef Fares of Split Fiction Urges Publishers to “Have Genuine Faith in Developers”

Game developer Josef Fares is known for being outspoken, and he’s continuing that theme in a new interview. Speaking to the BBC, Fares said publishers need to “step up and really trust the developer.” But at the same time, Fares said developers themselves have to “have a clear vision and stick with what they believe in.”

Fares admitted that what he says might not apply to everyone. After all, he runs his own studio, Hazelight, and his company is independently owned. “I am a –what do you say?–a different breed,” he said.

As an example of sticking to his guns, Fares said when he directed his first game, 2013’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, he received feedback that the game was “super bad” in early tests. However, Fares stood his ground and said, “They’re wrong, they’re wrong; because I know it’s great.”

Fares said his mantra is that if a developer feels passionate and inspired about what they’re making, then “people love it as well.”

“I don’t expect everybody to be like me, but that’s me with my extreme confidence,” he said. “We’re sticking to the vision of what we believe in. Stick with the vision, go with it.”

After making Brothers will Starbreeze, Fares started Hazelight and has released three more games, including A Way Out (2018), It Takes Two (2021), and Split Fiction (2025). They’re all co-op-only games, and this has become the calling card of Hazelight. Split Fiction is apparently off to a good start, having sold 2 million copies in a week and receiving rave reviews, including a 10/10 from GameSpot.