Fiction Streamers Win Hazelight Studios Trip for Completing Secret Stage

The world of Split Fiction continues to surprise and delight players, with the recent discovery of the secret "Laser Hell" stage captivating the community. Chinese streamers sharkOvO and E1uM4y have made headlines by successfully navigating this challenging level, earning themselves a well-deserved trip to Hazelight Studios as a reward from the game’s director, Josef Fares.

The duo showcased their achievement on BiliBili, revealing how they accessed the Laser Hell stage by entering a specific sequence of switches in the Isolation level's elevator. Once inside, they faced a gauntlet of lasers, testing their skills to the limit. Upon completing the stage, they unlocked a congratulatory video from Josef Fares, who praised their feat and extended an invitation to visit Hazelight Studios in Sweden. Fares took to Twitter (X) on March 19 to personally commend the streamers, saying, "Congrats to 'sharkOvO' and 'E1uM4y' for finishing the secret challenge 'Laser Hell' in #splitfiction. VERY impressive! I will keep my promise and invite you both to Sweden for an early look at our next game. We'll be in touch!"

Hazelight Studios Working On Its Next Game

In a recent interview on The Friends Per Second podcast on March 17, Josef Fares discussed Hazelight’s relationship with publisher EA and provided insights into the studio's next project. Fares expressed his satisfaction with Split Fiction's reception, noting, "For me, personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it. I’m kind of like, ‘OK, here’s the next thing.’ This has been a bit extra special. I would say that it’s been the best-received game we have done, but to be honest, everybody is super happy, but I’m so fully-focused and excited on the next thing that we already have started."

While Fares remained tight-lipped about the specifics of their new project, he emphasized the excitement within the studio, saying, "There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early. You do know, at Hazelight, we don’t work on [a] game more than three or four years. Three or four years is not so far away. Then we’re going to talk more about it. It’s way too early, but just know this: we are very, very, very, very excited here. Very excited, and we started working on this a month ago-ish."

Addressing Hazelight’s relationship with EA, Fares clarified, "Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them. We say, ‘We’re going to do this.’ That’s it. They have zero, and I mean zero, thing to say about what we’re doing next." He emphasized the positive nature of their partnership, noting that despite EA's mixed reputation, the publisher respects Hazelight’s creative autonomy, saying, "Maybe they’re f***ing up with other developers. With us, no. They respect us. They respect what we do. I’m very clear with them that they cannot interfere with what we do. Now, we have become one of their most successful studios."

First Update and Hitting 2 Million Sales in 1 Week

On March 17, Split Fiction received its first update, addressing several issues identified by the community post-launch. The update fixed in-game mechanics, resolved minor glitches in online play, improved localization and subtitles across all languages, and more.

Moreover, Split Fiction achieved a significant milestone by selling over 2 million copies within just one week of its release. This impressive figure outpaces Hazelight’s previous success, It Takes Two, which sold 1 million copies a few weeks after its launch and reached 20 million by October 2024.

Split Fiction is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay updated with the latest news and developments by checking out our article below!