EA, AAA and AI
Hazelight and EA necessarily have a somewhat special relationship, since the publisher is there to distribute the studio’s games around the world, while providing them with the required visibility. Josef Fares returned to this agreement between the two entities, which was not necessarily obvious at first glance given that EA is today reluctant to offer anything other than its strong licenses. But despite his outspokenness, no question of spitting in the hand that feeds Hazelight for Josef Fares, who believes that Electronic Arts too often has a bad reputation :
“ There are lots of great people at EA. They know how we work. They respect our way of doing things and leave us alone. Let’s be honest, no editor in the world is immune to mistakes. Sometimes I feel like EA gets more criticism than it deserves. Frankly, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, everyone made mistakes. But for one reason or another, EA has become the big bad. For us, this is an excellent collaboration. I am very transparent about this. If it wasn’t okay, I would have said it in this interview too. But we have excellent relations. I’m not saying they never made mistakes like every other editor. Everyone around me at EA is a gamer. They love games. I’m not surrounded by executives in suits. No way. And there’s no need to worry, because Hazelight will always do what it wants. »
During this same interview, he also returned to the evolution of the industry and the explosion of AA that the success of Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33. What Fares does not necessarily see favorably if this is to the detriment of AAA productions, as he is afraid that this is only a fashion and not necessarily beneficial :
“ We often hear, after the success of games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that AA games are taking over. But I couldn’t do without a AAA title. I really want to play blockbusters. You can’t make a GTA for 10 million dollars. We need both. It is important not to get stuck in preconceived ideas, such as that AA games are a novelty, or independent games a novelty, or “blah blah blah”, or “blah blah blah”. We need diversity. I hope that publishers aren’t just going to look at a game like Expedition, which was a huge success, and say, “Oh, AA games are new.” Let’s just do that. » I don’t believe in that. There has been an avalanche of AA games released this year, which have generated no interest. Let’s not forget that. »
When he is told that creativity is perhaps more difficult to find in the world of AAA, he responds by citing Naughty Dog, Rockstar and Nintendo who manage to get by. And on the place of generative AI in the industry, Fares also has his opinion on this subject :
“ We have been working with AI for a long time in game development. The problem is generative AI. If an AI tool can help realize a vision, I don’t see why we wouldn’t explore it. But… it’s generative AI that people are a little worried about… It’s really difficult to answer. Take Midjourney, for example: when it came out, it was impressive. And five years later… the level has barely improved. Maybe that’s the limit. We have someone who creates a game concept and says: “Look what it will look like in five years!” But who knows? In five years it might be like Midjourney… not much better. In the end, you always need someone who has a vision, an idea of the game. I don’t think that AI will take over. Really not. But it’s really difficult to answer. Who knows what the future holds? »
As for the future of Hazelight, the creator responds that the studio is currently in an excellent situation, which can be understood after the financial and critical success of Split Fiction. All that remains is to wait and see what he produces next.