There are few developers who are as well-known and lauded in the modern games industry as that of Josef Fares, the founder of Hazelight, the Swedish studio that gave the world A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Split Fiction.
Fares is often known for his epic comment at The Game Awards a few years ago, where he iconically shouted "Fuck the Oscars", but anyone who is familiar with Fares and his work knows that he is also much more than this comment.
To this end, we recently had the chance to speak with Kaja Chan, the performer behind Split Fiction's Mio, in an interview talking about the acclaimed platformer's upcoming BAFTA Games Awards hopes. But we also spoke a little about Fares and what it's like working with the famed developer.
"He is such a character. He's such an incredible person. So he is the "F the Oscars guy", but he's actually really grounded. He's so down to earth and so welcoming and so loving and incredibly passionate. He knows how to lift up the spirits of an entire room and the moment he walks in, it's like the temperature rises in a really good way. It means that when we're doing motion capture, we lock in. But also as soon as things get serious, he's like, all right, you know, who can I show some love? And then he'll go into the ground or he'll be like, oh, do you want chocolate? Do you want chocolate? Do you want chocolate? And, you know, he's making sure everyone's fed.
"It's like you have to, you have to strap into the roller coaster ride that is working with Josef. But he is adorable and lovely. And I think that the success of Hazelight and Split Fiction and It Takes Two, and every one of their other amazing titles, has been because of the strength of his ambition and the clarity of his vision and how optimistic and encouraging he is of his team. Everyone is blindly following him into battle, basically, and that's because of the power of his vision and his, you know, he's very persuasive, put it that way."
Hazelight will be looking to add a few more trophies to its cabinet this Friday at the BAFTAs, but as for what the future holds for the developer, it has recently begun motion capture work for its next title, suggesting that it won't be too long until we get to hear from Fares once again.
