"Streamers Win Hazelight Studios Trip by Completing Secret Stage"

Split Fiction streamers discover and complete the challenging Laser Hell secret stage, earning them an exciting trip to Hazelight Studios. Delve into the details of Split Fiction's Laser Hell challenge and discover what the studio is planning next after the game's successful launch.

Split Fiction Continues With More Surprises

First Players to Finish "Laser Hell" Challenge Earn a Trip to Hazelight Studios

Following its successful launch last month, Split Fiction continues to captivate players with hidden surprises, including the secret "Laser Hell" stage. This notoriously difficult stage was recently conquered by Chinese streamers sharkOvO and E1uM4y, who showcased their achievement on BiliBili. To unlock Laser Hell, players must enter a specific sequence of switches on the elevator in the Isolation level, leading them to a platform stage filled with lasers.

Upon completing the challenge, the streamers unlocked a video message from Hazelight Founder Josef Fares, who congratulated them on their remarkable feat. Fares noted that even many of the game's developers struggled with this level. In his message, he invited the duo to visit Hazelight Studios in Sweden. Shortly after the video surfaced, Fares acknowledged their accomplishment on X (formerly Twitter) on March 19, saying, "Congrats to 'sharkOvO' and 'E1uM4y' for finishing the secret challenge 'Laser Hell' in #splitfiction. VERY impressive! I will keep my promise and invite you both to Sweden for an early look at our next game. We'll be in touch!"

Hazelight Studios Working On Its Next Game

In a recent interview on The Friends Per Second podcast on March 17, Josef Fares discussed Hazelight's relationship with publisher EA and hinted at the studio's next project. Fares expressed that after the release of Split Fiction, he felt a unique sense of accomplishment, stating, "For me, personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it. I’m kind of like, ‘OK, here’s the next thing.’ This has been a bit extra special. I would say that it’s been the best-received game we have done, but to be honest, everybody is super happy, but I’m so fully-focused and excited on the next thing that we already have started."

Although Fares remained tight-lipped about specifics, he confirmed that the team has been working on their next game for about a month. He explained, "There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early. You do know, at Hazelight, we don’t work on [a] game more than three or four years. Three or four years is not so far away. Then we’re going to talk more about it. It’s way too early, but just know this: we are very, very, very, very excited here. Very excited, and we started working on this a month ago-ish."

Regarding Hazelight's relationship with EA, Fares emphasized the publisher's supportive role, saying, "Here’s the thing, people don’t understand this: EA is a supporter. We don’t pitch games to them. We say, ‘We’re going to do this.’ That’s it. They have zero, and I mean zero, thing to say about what we’re doing next." He added that despite EA's mixed reputation with other developers, the publisher respects Hazelight's autonomy, stating, "Maybe they’re messing up with other developers. With us, no. They respect us. They respect what we do. I’m very clear with them that they cannot interfere with what we do. Now, we have become one of their most successful studios."

First Update and Hitting 2 Million Sales in 1 Week

On March 17, Split Fiction received its first update, addressing several community-reported issues. This update included fixes for in-game mechanics, minor glitches during online play, and improvements in localization and subtitles across all languages.

Additionally, Split Fiction achieved a significant milestone by selling over 2 million copies within just one week of its release. This impressive figure outpaces the sales of Hazelight's 2021 Game of the Year Award winner, It Takes Two, which sold 1 million copies a few weeks after its launch and reached 20 million by October 2024.

Split Fiction is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. To stay updated on the latest news and developments about the game, check out our article below!