Josef Fares, director of Split Fiction, has cautioned the gaming industry against fixating on double-A titles following the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. In a recent interview, he emphasized the need for diversity in game publishing, including triple-A blockbusters. Fares also defended publisher EA and expressed skepticism about generative AI's future role in development.
Josef Fares, the director behind Hazelight Studios' co-op hits like Split Fiction and It Takes Two, shared his concerns in an interview with The Game Business about the potential pitfalls of the gaming industry's response to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success. This double-A title has been hailed as a breakthrough, but Fares worries it could lead publishers to overly prioritize similar mid-budget games at the expense of variety.
"You do hear, after the success of things like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that the double-A games are taking over," Fares said. "But I would not be able to live without a triple-A title. I really want to play the blockbuster games. You can’t do GTA for ten million [dollars]. We need both."
He urged against getting stuck on trends, noting that many double-A releases this year failed to gain traction despite their quality, such as Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Immortals of Aveum, in contrast to hits like Space Marine 2. Fares highlighted companies like Rockstar Games, Naughty Dog, and Nintendo for balancing AAA scale with creative risks.
Turning to his publisher, Electronic Arts, Fares pushed back against common criticisms. "There are a lot of great people at EA," he stated. "They know how we work. They respect it and they leave us be. EA is getting more shit than they deserve." He acknowledged mistakes across the industry, including from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, but praised EA's collaborative approach with Hazelight. This partnership has fueled successes, with It Takes Two selling over 20 million copies and Split Fiction reaching 4 million in its first few months, including 2 million in the first week and breaking Steam records for local co-op sales.
On generative AI, Fares remains cautious. While Hazelight uses AI tools that aid vision realization, he questioned generative tech's progress: "If you look at Midjourney, for instance, when it came out it was so impressive. And five years later…the bar hasn’t gone up much." He believes games require a central creative vision that AI cannot yet provide, though he admitted, "Who knows what happens in the future?"