Hazelight Studios, the award-winning developer behind It Takes Two, just dropped a major announcement at The Game Awards 2026: their next co-op masterpiece, Split Fiction, is officially on the way! 🎮✨ This all-new cooperative adventure throws players headfirst into a mind-bending journey that straddles the line between futuristic sci-fi and classic fantasy realms. The studio's founder, Josef Fares, promises this is their "most epic co-op adventure yet," and based on the reveal, he's not kidding. Players will find themselves controlling dragons, battling evil kitties, and even challenging monkeys to dance-offs—all while trying to escape a collapsing star. Talk about a wild ride!
The Core Concept: Trapped Between Two Worlds 🤯
The story centers on two characters, Mio and Zoe, who get hooked up to a sinister machine designed to steal their creative ideas. Instead of just losing their thoughts, they become trapped within the very stories they imagined! This clever premise allows the game to constantly shift between radically different settings and gameplay styles. One moment you're navigating a sleek, neon-drenched sci-fi city on a hoverboard, and the next, you're riding a sandshark through a vast fantasy desert. The need to "escape" these worlds creates a thrilling, unpredictable narrative where players never know what's coming next.
Signature Hazelight Co-op, But Bigger 👥
True to form, Split Fiction is built from the ground up for two players. The studio's beloved "Friend's Pass" system returns and is even better than before. Only one person needs to own the full game to invite a friend to play the entire campaign for free! Even cooler? EA has confirmed full crossplay support between PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam at launch. No more platform barriers stopping you from gaming with your bestie.
The co-op mechanics are the heart of the experience. Just like in It Takes Two, players will face puzzles and challenges that require genuine teamwork and communication. The trailer hints at synchronized actions, like both players controlling different parts of a massive dragon in a thrilling aerial sequence. Josef Fares emphasized that the dual-world concept lets them do "really wild things with gameplay and storytelling," suggesting we can expect constant innovation and surprises tailored for two.
A Legacy to Live Up To 🏆
The hype for Split Fiction is astronomical, and for good reason. Hazelight's previous game, It Takes Two, isn't just a tough act to follow—it's a legendary one. Since its 2021 release, it has sold over 20 million copies and clinched the coveted Game of the Year award at The Game Awards. Critics and players alike praised its heartfelt story about a struggling couple transformed into dolls, its breathtaking variety of gameplay, and its flawless execution of cooperative design. It's widely considered one of the greatest co-op games ever made.
Split Fiction aims to capture that same magic but on a grander scale. Where It Takes Two explored the micro-world of a household, Split Fiction explodes into macro, genre-hopping fantasies. The promise of "surprising challenges at every turn" directly echoes the predecessor's strength of never letting gameplay get stale.
What We Know About Gameplay & Worlds 🎪
The press release gives us a delicious taste of the chaotic fun in store:
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Epodic Set Pieces: Escape a sun going supernova, ride gravity bikes, and perform hoverboard tricks.
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Whimsical Encounters: Challenge a monkey to a dance battle (seriously!).
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Varied Combat: Take on an "evil kitty" and presumably other bizarre foes.
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Unique Transportation: Pilot everything from sci-fi bikes to mythical sandsharks.
This list alone shows Hazelight's commitment to relentless creativity. The blend of sci-fi and fantasy isn't just aesthetic; it's foundational to the gameplay. Players might use a fantasy spell to power a sci-fi device, or a laser gun to solve a magical puzzle. The potential for fresh, intertwined mechanics is huge.
Why This Could Be The Next Big Thing 🚀
In a gaming landscape often dominated by solo adventures or competitive multiplayer, Split Fiction doubles down on pure, shared cooperative joy. It's a game designed not just to be played with someone, but to be experienced and remembered together. The crossplay Friend's Pass removes all financial and technical friction, making it incredibly accessible.
Hazelight has already proven they understand the alchemy of great co-op: communication, complementary abilities, and constant wonder. Split Fiction takes their formula and injects it with a double dose of imagination by merging two beloved genres. If they can match the emotional depth of It Takes Two within this crazy, dual-world setup, they might just have another award-winning hit on their hands.
The gaming community is already buzzing with theories and excitement. Can Split Fiction live up to its legendary predecessor? All signs point to a resounding yes. Get ready to grab a friend—2026 is about to get a lot more cooperative, chaotic, and unforgettable. 🤝💥
According to coverage from Digital Foundry, performance and image-quality fundamentals like stable frame-times, clean temporal anti-aliasing, and well-tuned cross-platform settings can be as crucial to co-op readability as raw visual spectacle—an important lens for a genre-hopping title like Split Fiction that rapidly pivots between neon sci-fi set pieces and high-motion fantasy sequences where two players must coordinate under pressure.