A Way Out Director Talks EA, and His Next Game

EA gets a lot of well-deserved hate from its fans, but sometimes they do things right. Case in point: developers across the board seem to have different opinions of the studio. Indie studios have typically said working with EA is very nice, and one such studio Hazelight, seems to be agreeing. Their first game, A Way Out, has proven to be enormously successful, having sold one million copies in three weeks, and Hazelight admits that, going forward, they plan to stick with EA.

Speaking to EuroGamer last week, Hazelight director Josef Fares had this to say:

"Yeah, we're with EA. It's no problem. It's super-good support. I don't care what publisher I work with it's going to be the same. This is how I work: I respect the economical aspect but nobody fucks with the vision—it's very, very important. And they know it at EA now, and they're super-supportive—super-supportive."

He also talked more about how that future game will actually work out:

"The next game will be longer than A Way Out, but that's because it makes sense for that game. Developers should focus on making the best game. It shouldn't be a tick box thing. That goes for everybody—for the players, for the reviewers. Why are we talking about replayability when nobody is really even finishing the games? It doesn't make sense. It's like everybody is going on autopilot here."

It’s cool that he’s found a publisher he’s happy with, and A Way Out seems like it deserves the success it has. I’m curious if the next game will be another narrative-focused experience the same way A Way Out was, but I’m sure it’ll have some kind of gimmick that will make it stand out compared to the competition.

And hey. Good news about EA. That’s always exciting to report about, right?