Split Fiction Streamers Discover and Conquer the Laser Hell Secret Stage, Earning a Trip to Hazelight Studios

Dive into the thrilling world of Split Fiction as streamers uncover and triumph over the challenging "Laser Hell" secret stage, securing themselves an exciting trip to Hazelight Studios. Explore the details of this intense challenge and get a glimpse into what Hazelight is planning following the game's successful launch.

Split Fiction Continues With More Surprises

First Players to Finish "Laser Hell" Challenge Earn a Trip to Hazelight Studios

Split Fiction, which enjoyed a stellar launch last month, continues to captivate players with hidden gems like the secret "Laser Hell" stage. Despite its notorious difficulty, Chinese streamers sharkOvO and E1uM4y rose to the challenge and were rewarded with a trip to Hazelight Studios by the game's director, Josef Fares.

The duo showcased their triumph on the streaming platform BiliBili, demonstrating how to access the stage by entering a specific sequence of switches in the Isolation level's elevator, which transports players to a laser-filled platform. Upon completion, they unlocked a congratulatory video from Hazelight's founder, Josef Fares, who admitted that even many of the game's developers struggled with the level. Fares then extended an invitation to visit Hazelight Studios in Sweden. Shortly after the video surfaced, Fares took to Twitter (X) on March 19 to acknowledge their feat, stating, "Congrats to 'sharkOvO' and 'E1uM4y' for finishing the secret challenge 'Laser Hell' in #splitfiction. 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 on The Friends Per Second podcast on March 17, Josef Fares discussed Hazelight's ongoing relationship with publisher EA and hinted at the studio's next project. Fares expressed that the release of Split Fiction marked a unique moment for him, saying, "For me, personally, every time a game is out, I’m kind of done with it. I’m kind of like, ‘OK, here’s the next thing.’ This has been a bit extra special. I would say that it’s been the best-received game we have done, but to be honest, everybody is super happy, but I’m so fully-focused and excited on the next thing that we already have started."

While Fares remained tight-lipped about the details of their new project, he assured fans that the studio is buzzing with excitement. "There is a reason why I can’t talk about the next game; it’s because it’s quite early," he explained. "You do know, at Hazelight, we don’t work on [a] game more than three or four years. Three or four years is not so far away. Then we’re going to talk more about it. It’s way too early, but just know this: we are very, very, very, very excited here. Very excited, and we started working on this a month ago-ish."

Regarding Hazelight's relationship with EA, Fares clarified, "Here’s the thing, 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, and I mean zero, thing to say about what we’re doing next." He emphasized EA's supportive role, stating that despite any negative perceptions, EA respects Hazelight's creative autonomy. "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 have 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 update, addressing various community-reported issues, including in-game mechanics, online play glitches, and localization/subtitles across multiple languages.

In addition to the update, Split Fiction achieved a remarkable milestone by selling over 2 million copies within just one week of its launch. This figure outpaces the sales of Hazelight's 2021 Game of the Year Award winner, It Takes Two, which sold 1 million copies shortly after its release and reached 20 million by October 2024.

Split Fiction is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates and insights by checking out our article below!