Streamers Win Hazelight Studios Trip After Secret Stage Completion

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Split Fiction streamers successfully complete the hidden Laser Hell stage, earning an exclusive trip to Hazelight Studios. Discover more about this secret challenge and what’s next for the studio following the game’s impressive success.

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 surprise players with hidden content—most notably, the challenging Laser Hell secret stage. Despite its difficulty, two Chinese streamers, sharkOvO and E1uM4y, managed to conquer the level, earning a special reward directly from Hazelight Studios’ founder, Josef Fares.

To access Laser Hell, players must activate a precise sequence of switches inside the elevator during the Isolation level. When done correctly, the elevator transports them to a high-intensity platforming stage filled with deadly lasers.

Upon completing the challenge, players are treated to a congratulatory video from Josef Fares himself, who admitted that even many of his own developers struggled to finish the stage. Impressed by their performance, Fares took to Twitter (X) on March 19 to announce:

“Congrats to ‘sharkOvO’ and ‘E1uM4y’ for finishing the secret challenge Laser Hell in #splitficton. 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 with The Friends Per Second podcast on March 17, Josef Fares discussed Hazelight Studios’ partnership with EA and confirmed that development has already begun on their next title.

Fares shared how Split Fiction felt different compared to his previous games:

“For me personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it. This has been a bit extra special. It’s been the best-received game we’ve done so far. But honestly, everyone’s super happy, and I’m fully focused and excited about the next thing—we’ve already started.”

Although he confirmed work has begun, Fares was tight-lipped about the project’s details:

“There’s a reason why I can’t talk about the next game—it’s quite early. You know, at Hazelight, we don’t work on a game for more than three or four years. That’s not so far away. Right now, it’s way too early, but just know this: we are very, very excited here. Very excited. And we started working on this a month ago-ish.”

Hazelight's Partnership With EA

When asked about Hazelight’s relationship with publisher EA, Fares clarified that EA acts purely as a supporter rather than a creative force:

“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—literally zero—say in what we’re doing next.”

Despite EA’s mixed reputation in the gaming industry, Fares emphasized that the publisher has been a strong and respectful partner to Hazelight:

“Maybe they’re f***ing 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’ve 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 major update, which included several bug fixes and improvements based on community feedback. Issues related to in-game mechanics, online play glitches, localization, and subtitle corrections were among the addressed concerns.

The game also reached a significant sales milestone—over 2 million copies sold within just one week of release. In comparison, Hazelight’s 2021 hit It Takes Two reached 1 million sales after a few weeks and eventually climbed to 20 million units by October 2024.

Split Fiction is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates and insights into the world of Split Fiction and Hazelight Studios’ upcoming projects.

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