All Hazelight Games in Order: A Way Out, It Takes Two & Split Fiction

There are not many game studios with a perfect track record. Hazelight Studios is one of them.

Josef Fares founded the studio in Stockholm in 2014. Before making games, he directed films, and that background has always shown up in how Hazelight tells stories. Since then the team has released exactly three games.

Every single one was built exclusively for two players. Every one shipped with a Friend's Pass so only one person needs to buy it. Every one earned widespread critical acclaim. Between their three titles, Hazelight has sold over 36 million copies.

This is a complete guide to every Hazelight game in order: what each one is, what makes it worth playing, and how they fit together as a body of work.

A Way Out (2018) Where It All Started

Released: March 23, 2018    Length: ~6 hours    Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC    Copies sold: 13 million+

A Way Out is the game that proved Hazelight's concept. You play as Leo and Vincent, two convicts in a maximum security prison with nothing in common except a mutual enemy on the outside. The game begins with their escape and builds into a full crime thriller: car chases, shootouts, revenge plots, and one of the most debated endings in co-op gaming history.

What makes A Way Out special is the splitscreen approach. Hazelight uses both players' screens at the same time, and the game often plays them against each other as much as together. There are moments where one player watches a cutscene while the other is already in the next section. Competitive minigames show up constantly.

At six hours it's the shortest Hazelight game, but it earns every minute. It won a BAFTA and set the template for everything that followed.

Shop the A Way Out collection: Leo & Vincent metal poster, crewneck, t-shirt and more

It Takes Two (2021) The Game That Changed Co-op Forever

Released: March 26, 2021    Length: 10–14 hours    Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC    Copies sold: 16 million+

If A Way Out proved the concept, It Takes Two perfected it. Hazelight's second game won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021, the BAFTA, the DICE Award, and virtually every other major accolade. It earned all of them.

You play as Cody and May, a married couple on the verge of divorce who are accidentally transformed into dolls by their daughter's wish. Every chapter introduces completely new gameplay systems tied directly to the story's themes: the attic, the garden, the treehouse, the clockwork workshop. None of them repeat. By the time you finish, you have played what feels like fifteen different games that somehow all tell the same story.

It's also the most emotionally resonant Hazelight game and the most accessible. If you or your co-op partner are newer to games, It Takes Two is the right starting point.

Explore the full depth: 
How long is It Takes Two?  ·  10 Things You Probably Missed  ·  Cody and May — the characters

Shop the It Takes Two Collector's Collection: Cody & May figures, plushies, posters and more

Split Fiction (2025) The Latest Evolution

Released: March 6, 2025    Length: 12–15 hours    Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC    Copies sold: 7 million+ (and counting)

Split Fiction is Hazelight's most ambitious game to date. The team spent four years after It Takes Two clearly trying to top themselves, and it shows.

You play as Mio Hudson and Zoe Foster, two writers trapped inside a simulation of their own stories. Mio writes sci-fi. Zoe writes fantasy. The game alternates between their worlds: cyberpunk cityscapes, dragon filled forests, zero gravity deserts, each one with completely different mechanics and rules.

Split Fiction is longer, louder, and more varied than It Takes Two. It's also the first Hazelight game to support cross-platform play. GameSpot and Push Square both gave it a perfect 10. It sold one million copies in its first three days.

Explore the full depth:
How long is Split Fiction?  ·  7 Things Split Fiction Does Better

Shop the Split Fiction Collector's Collection: Mio, Zoe & dragon plushies, posters and more

All Three Games at a Glance

Which Hazelight Game Should You Play First?

Start with It Takes Two if you or your co-op partner are newer to games, you want the most emotionally grounded story, or you want to understand why Hazelight became a household name.

Start with A Way Out if you want a shorter, grittier experience that works on older hardware, or you want to trace the studio's evolution from the beginning.

Start with Split Fiction if you're both experienced gamers, you want the most mechanically ambitious entry in the catalogue, or you've already played It Takes Two and want to see what came next.

The ideal order if you plan to play all three: A Way Out → It Takes Two → Split Fiction. Each game builds on what came before, and playing them in order shows exactly how much Hazelight has grown in a decade.

What Every Hazelight Game Has in Common

Across three very different games, five things remain constant:

• Co-op only — no singleplayer mode, no exceptions. You always need a partner, and that constraint is a creative decision, not a limitation.
• Friend's Pass — one player can download the game and play the entire experience for free alongside someone who owns it. One of the most player friendly features in modern gaming.
• Mechanics tied to story — the way you play reflects what the characters are going through. This isn't decoration; it's the foundation of how Hazelight builds its games.
• Two equal protagonists — no sidekick, no player 2. Both controllers are always telling the same story from different angles.

Official Hazelight Merchandise

The official Hazelight store carries licensed merchandise across all three games, from It Takes Two figures and plushies to Split Fiction dragon collectibles to A Way Out apparel.

• It Takes Two Collector's Collection — Cody & May figures, plushies, posters, pins
• Split Fiction Collector's Collection — Mio, Zoe & dragon plushies, posters, apparel
• A Way Out Collection — Leo & Vincent poster, crewneck, t-shirt, lanyard
• Shop all Hazelight merchandise — the full store, all games

FAQ

How many Hazelight games are there?

Three: A Way Out (2018), It Takes Two (2021), and Split Fiction (2025). All three are exclusively co-op and all were made by the same Stockholm based studio that Josef Fares founded.

Are all Hazelight games co-op only?

Yes. Every Hazelight game requires exactly two players and there is no singleplayer mode in any of them. All three also ship with a Friend's Pass, so only one person needs to own the game to play with a partner.

What order should I play Hazelight games in?

Chronological order works well: A Way Out → It Takes Two → Split Fiction. Each game builds on the previous one in scope and ambition. If you are only playing one to start with, It Takes Two is the best entry point.

Is A Way Out better than It Takes Two?

They are different enough that better does not really fit. A Way Out is shorter, grittier, and built around a crime thriller. It Takes Two is longer, more varied, more emotionally layered, and more accessible. Most players who have finished both have a soft spot for each one for different reasons. Split Fiction then expands on what both established.