Swedish indie studio Hazelight is synonymous with co-op gaming, so of course its next project is built for two players — but this time, it also features two genres. Split Fiction is a co-op adventure where players leap between sci-fi and fantasy worlds in a bid to escape the clutches of a greedy publishing corporation. It supports local and online play, and, fittingly, it uses split-screen.
In Split Fiction, you play as Mio and Zoe, two writers who end up trapped in the same bubble of a creativity-stealing machine controlled by an evil publisher. Mio is a sci-fi author and Zoe writes fantasy, and their two worlds have come to life around them. Together, they have to escape by jumping between the sci-fi and fantasy realms, surviving the unique dangers in each fictional space. It sounds like a classic story about the power of friendship and platforming.
The game’s debut trailer, which premiered at The Game Awards, showcases two richly stylized worlds and a variety of mechanics in each. Mio’s sci-fi realm has neon lights, robots, lasers, hoverboards and gravity bikes, while Zoe’s fantasy space has dragons, magic, adorable villages, giants and castles. Each level has its own unique mechanic. For instance, in one fantasy level the dragons grow up with progress, and their abilities evolve from carrying players between platforms, to rolling players up like an armadillo, and finally to full-on dragon riding.
Hazelight and its founder, Josef Fares, are as much a part of The Game Awards as Hideo Kojima at this point, and the studio’s previous title, It Takes Two, won Game of the Year in 2021. Amazon is adapting It Takes Two into a movie, with Sonic the Hedgehog film writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller tackling the script.
Like Hazelight’s previous games, Split Fiction is being published by EA under its indie-focused EA Originals label. Split Fiction is due to hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 6, 2025, and it’ll cost $50. On PC, it’s coming to Steam, the Epic Games Store and the EA app. Crucially for the co-op aspect, it supports cross-platform play among PS5, Xbox and Steam.
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