In the summer of 2021, Hazelight Studios had every reason to pop champagne. Its latest game, It Takes Two, had just crossed two million copies sold. For a co-op-only title with no competitive multiplayer, no battle royale, and no live-service grind, that was no small potatoes. The game launched in March 2021, hit one million sales in less than a month, and doubled that number by June. Even better, online co-op only required one player to own the game through the Friend's Pass, meaning the actual player base was far bigger than the sales figure suggested. Hazelight was simply amazed by the passion fans showed, and the studio couldn't have been happier to see so many co-op believers out there.
Why It Takes Two Hit Different
It Takes Two arrived at a moment when couch co-op felt like a forgotten art. Anyone over 25 likely has fond memories of split-screen sessions: passing a controller, arguing over who got player one, and blaming lag when things went south. Online gaming gradually replaced that ritual, but It Takes Two proved players still longed for those days. It wasn't just nostalgia bait, though. The game paired inventive gameplay with a story about a crumbling relationship, and it forced two players to actually talk to each other. No lone wolves allowed.
A few factors sent the game into overdrive:
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The Friend's Pass. One copy could entertain two players online. That lowered the barrier to entry and turned the game into an easy recommendation.
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Josef Fares' larger-than-life personality. The Hazelight founder is known for unfiltered award show moments and wild promises. He once said he'd give anyone who got bored of It Takes Two $1,000. That's a bold bet, and it made headlines.
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Critical acclaim and Game of the Year buzz. It Takes Two won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021, which kept word-of-mouth cooking long after launch.
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Steam sales and chart momentum. A discount in June 2021 pushed the game back up the Steam best-sellers list, where it hit number two, behind Guilty Gear Strive but ahead of that game's Deluxe Edition. Not too shabby for a co-op game about a talking book.
The Sales Story Kept Growing
The two million milestone was just the opening act. In the years that followed, It Takes Two kept selling like hotcakes. By 2026, Hazelight's co-op darling has moved well north of 20 million copies, a staggering figure for a game that absolutely refuses to let players go solo. The journey looked something like this:
| Year | Reported Milestone | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 million | Less than three months after launch |
| 2021 | 3 million | By October, thanks to strong word-of-mouth |
| 2022 | 5 million | By February, as the Game of the Year win sank in |
| 2023 | 10 million | By February, doubling again in a year |
| 2024 | 16 million | By March, with no signs of slowing down |
| 2025–2026 | 20+ million | Continued sales, bundles, and co-op loyalists |
That table tells a simple story: It Takes Two didn't just ride a launch hype wave. It became a perennial seller. Parents played it with kids. Couples used it as a relationship test. Friends who hadn't gamed together since college fired up a session. The Friend's Pass meant one purchase could create two lifelong fans, and those fans told other people. Rinse and repeat.
What It Means for the Co-Op Genre
For years, publishers treated co-op as a side dish. Single-player blockbusters like The Last of Us and Marvel's Spider-Man proved there was still a hunger for story-driven solo adventures. It Takes Two did the same for cooperative play. It showed that a game built from the ground up for two players could be a commercial heavyweight, not a niche curiosity. That's a big deal for an industry that often chases trends and forgets that players sometimes just want to share a screen.
Hazelight followed up with Split Fiction in 2025, another co-op-only title that also sold millions. The studio has essentially become the gold standard for cooperative storytelling. Josef Fares and his team don't do multiplayer modes bolted onto a single-player campaign. They build the whole experience around two people working together. And the market keeps saying yes.
If Players Have a Co-Op-Shaped Hole
Back in 2021, Operation: Tango was a solid pick for PS Plus subscribers who wanted more cooperative spy action. In 2026, the co-op buffet is even richer. There are plenty of games that scratch the same itch, from puzzle-driven adventures to chaotic action romps. But It Takes Two remains the benchmark. It's the game that made players believe in couch co-op again, even if they were sitting on opposite sides of the internet.
And if anyone somehow gets bored? Well, Josef Fares supposedly owes them $1,000. Good luck collecting that grand. Hazelight, meanwhile, has already moved on to bigger and better things, but It Takes Two's legacy is safe. It turned a two-million-copy milestone into a full-blown co-op revolution. Not bad for a game about a couple of tiny dolls and a very angry book.