Introducing Hazelight
Patrick Soderlund
2014-12-05
Every team, and every game, has its own story. For Hazelight, their first chapter starts today.
When I played the indie hit Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons last year with my daughter, I loved how different it felt. The mechanics and storytelling were really cool and we both enjoyed the intricate story. When I heard its creator Josef Fares was forming an independent studio to work on a new concept and looking for a publishing partner, I jumped at the chance to meet with him. Fast forward to today, I’m thrilled to share that EA has partnered with his newly-formed independent studio Hazelight to publish their first game. We’ve shared some space at our DICE studio in Stockholm so they could get to work right away.
Here are a few thoughts from Josef on Hazelight’s new game and our partnership:
”The reception of Brothers was overwhelming, I am so proud of what the game has accomplished. Hazelight is a studio that I have started together with the core team from Brothers and we are very excited to create a new experience. I am also very happy about our collaboration with EA, they really love the concept and Hazelight has full creative control. I can’t say much about the new game yet but I can tell you that it is a new IP that is totally different from Brothers in both style and setting.”
Josef’s background as an acclaimed film director prior to making games means he deeply understands character development and storytelling. But it’s rare to find someone who can translate that experience in film so well to the medium of games. I think Josef is one of the few people in the games industry I know of who can.
While we can’t reveal too many details yet, I can say that what they are building is unlike anything I’ve seen before. I think it’s going to be awesome. Here is the first behind-the-scenes look that we debuted at The Game Awards 2014. I hope you are as excited as I am to follow their journey.
