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Josef Fares

All articles tagged with #josef fares

gaming4 days ago•15 min saved

Fares Urges Industry to Embrace Diversity, Not Lock Into a Double‑A Blueprint

Split Fiction director Josef Fares warns against using Clair Obscur’s claimed ‘AA’ success as the industry’s new template, arguing for a mix of AAA blockbusters and diverse, smaller projects. He praises EA as a collaborative partner to Hazelight, notes strong sales for It Takes Two and Split Fiction, and remains skeptical about generative AI’s value in game design, saying true creative vision can’t be replaced by a chatbot while predicting Hazelight will continue delivering co‑op hits.

via Kotaku|

#clair-obscur-expedition-33 #electronic-arts #gaming

business5 days ago•5 min saved

Hazelight stays private to keep game-first creativity intact

Josef Fares, Hazelight's CEO, says the studio will never go public because stock-market metrics could force 'stupid decisions' and undermine creativity; he highlights the Friends Pass as an example of balancing creative intent with business benefit, and stresses decisions will be made for the game rather than analytics. He warns against publishers chasing mid-tier 'AA' titles and affirms the need for both AAA and diverse games, pointing to Hazelight's Split Fiction, which sold 1 million in 48 hours and 2 million in its first week, as evidence of demand for cooperative experiences.

via GamesIndustry.biz|

#business #friends-pass #going-public

technology5 days ago•3 min saved

Fares Warns Against AA Domination; AAA Blockbusters Still Essential

Hazelight's Josef Fares argues for industry balance, insisting AAA blockbusters remain essential even as successful small-budget, AA-style games like Expedition 33 emerge, warning against letting AA become the new norm and noting big-budget studios continue to push risk and innovation.

via GameSpot|

#aa-games #blockbusters #expedition-33