“Did We Really Do That?”: Josef Fares on Advancing Co-Op Adventures with Split Fiction

Working on Split Fiction is certainly no small feat. The game feels like every quarter of an hour, it’s throwing a brand-new set of mechanics at the player, while quickly shelving the previous ones. Yet, it strives to ensure that each innovative idea feels fully realized and polished.

“In one part of Split Fiction, you actually get to ride dragons,” the developers shared. “Creating just a single dragon took roughly eight months. Early on in my career, many of my colleagues wondered why we invested so much time into something players might only engage with briefly.”

However, when you think about films, a great scene that costs a fortune doesn’t get reused just because of its price tag. It loses its special touch if it’s repeated too often. There’s a school of thought in gaming that suggests expensive features should be reused to justify their costs. But really, why must everything be recycled? That diminishes the genuine impact of experiencing something for the first time.

Split Fiction embraces this concept fully by incorporating expansive areas of completely optional content. While It Takes Two had its share of mini-games, Split Fiction pushes this boundary with sections accessible through portals scattered throughout the game, offering much more.

“In these areas, you’ll encounter entirely new worlds brimming with unique mechanics, occasionally featuring bosses, and boasting fresh, visual environments. It’s as if you’re discovering a new game housed within another one.”