Hazelight

Hazelight is an independent game development studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, specializing in story-driven cooperative games. Founded in late 2014 by filmmaker and game director Josef Fares, the studio develops experiences built around two players sharing an adventure. Its work combines cinematic storytelling, action-adventure platforming and mechanics that change across different genres and settings.

The studio grew out of Fares’s experience directing Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons with a core team at Starbreeze Studios. That earlier project preceded Hazelight’s formation and helped establish the creative foundation for its focus on interactive storytelling and emotionally engaging play.

Games built around cooperation

Hazelight’s debut, A Way Out, launched in March 2018. Designed exclusively for two players, its split-screen prison-escape adventure connects cooperative actions with a cinematic narrative. The game established the studio’s approach to making collaboration central to both gameplay and storytelling.

It Takes Two, released in March 2021, developed that approach through cooperative platforming and a succession of varied gameplay mechanics. Its design makes the relationship between two players an integral part of how the adventure unfolds.

The studio’s third major release, Split Fiction, arrived in March 2025. It follows two writers trapped in interweaving science-fiction and fantasy worlds, extending Hazelight’s interest in cooperative action-adventure through contrasting fictional settings and genre-bending mechanics. All three games were published by Electronic Arts under the EA Originals label.

Development and adaptations

Hazelight’s production capabilities span narrative design, scriptwriting, technical animation, character and environment art, visual effects, and Unreal Engine development. In-house motion and performance capture support its combination of character-led storytelling and interactive action.

Beyond games, the studio works with Story Kitchen, dj2 Entertainment and Amazon MGM Studios on screen adaptations of its intellectual properties, extending its stories into film and television.