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[Lunatic_Gamer]

Hazelight Studios is preparing to release Split Fiction, a co-op game that has already received 91 points from critics on Metacritic and is now the highest rated game in 2025. And for Electronic Arts, which is the publisher, this achievement is very important.

Split Fiction became the first EA game in over a decade to receive a 90+ score on Metacritic. The last time the company received such a score was for Mass Effect 3 in 2012. This is a great success for EA after the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

In addition, the game continues Hazelight's tradition of creating innovative co-op projects. Its previous game, It Takes Two, won the Game of the Year award in 2021, but had a slightly lower rating of 88 points.

Critics also praised the game's creativity and ability to combine different genres in one project. For example, players can fly dragons, participate in dance battles with monkeys, or solve puzzles in a cyberpunk world.

Split Fiction is the first game for Electronic Arts in 13 years to receive 90+ points on Metacritic

The last time the company received such a rating was for Mass Effect 3 in 2012.

gagadget.com

 

[Camreezie]

Watch them shutter Hazelight

 

[CLW]

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Catch me up…EA is just the publisher here right? I thought Hazelight was an independent studio. Are they a wholly owned EA internal studio?

I thought they were more of a “Pokémon Company” than a “Retro Studios”

 

[Fbh]

Watch them shutter Hazelight

Hazelight is privately owned, EA just publishes their games.
And at this point I'm sure they could get a publishing deal with tons of other companies if EA ever backs out of working with them

Catch me up…EA is just the publisher here right? I thought Hazelight was an independent studio. Are they a wholly owned EA internal studio?

It's still an EA funded and published game.
Just like Helldivers 2 is a Sony game even if they don't own the devs.

 

[Woopah]

Watch them shutter Hazelight

Catch me up…EA is just the publisher here right? I thought Hazelight was an independent studio. Are they a wholly owned EA internal studio?

I thought they were more of a “Pokémon Company” than a “Retro Studios”

Hazelight is independent.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Okay whew...good for HL! And totally fine that EA is Money Hatting the game!

EA was always a great company to work WITH...working for on the other hand, that would be much less....good.

 

[nial]

It's still an EA funded and published game.
Just like Helldivers 2 is a Sony game even if they don't own the devs.

Yes, though different in that it's part of their indie support program (EA Originals). Once EA recoups all the investment it made on the project, most of the additional revenue goes to the studio, and they also get to fully own the IP.
Pretty cool initiative that EA doesn't get enough credit for.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Dead space hd remaster got a 89

 

[clarky]

Dead space hd remaster got a 89

So not 90+ then. But thanks for pointing that out for the mongs.

 

[Sooner]

Indie-style games are graded on a different, much more lenient, scale.

 

[{insert code here}]

Mass Effect 3 was their last game to get a 90+ meta score. That is wild.

 

[AJUMP23]

Last time EA had a game this high was mass effect 3.

 

[analog_future]

Just got done playing about 2 hours of this and it is SO DAMN GOOD.

Enjoying it more than It Takes Two already, and I loved It Takes Two.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

For split fiction, it takes two and a way out?

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

I hope they make another single player game someday, for the lonely hearts among us.

I liked Brothers

 

[ReBurn]

I have to have a friend before I can play this game? I guess I'll never get to play.

 

[poodaddy]

I have to have a friend before I can play this game? I guess I'll never get to play.

Spoiler: Well....

Actually, I'm playing through it with my daughter....but I'm with you in spirit!

 

[March Climber]

A part of me almost does not want to count "EA Originals" or whatever Coldwood Interactive and Hazelight fall under. However, that would be too spiteful of me I guess.

Congrats to them.

 

[Blank Space Invader]

Ew.