Split Fiction Boss Hopes AA Games Don't Take Over The Industry Completely

Developer Sandfall's RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was one of 2025's breakout hits, and with a budget of reportedly less than $10 million, a relatively small development staff, and a price point below $70, some have said the game could be representative of a "AA"-style project that can break through. It may have worked for Expedition 33, and it could work for other titles, but Hazelight boss Josef Fares wants to see the AAA space continue and hopes that decision-makers in gaming don't go all-in on smaller-scale games with lower budgets.

"You do hear, after the success of things like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that the AA games are taking over. But I would not be able to live without a AAA title," he told The Game Business. "I really want to play the blockbuster games. You can't do GTA for $10 million. We need both."

Fares went on to say that "it's important not to get stuck in ideas." People should not allow themselves to be convinced that "AA is a new thing" or "indie is a new thing," he said.

"We need the diversity. I hope that publishers don't just look at a game like Expedition, which has been super successful, and think, 'Oh, AA is a new thing. Let's only do that.' I don't believe in that," he said.

Fares also reminded people that while Expedition 33 was a success, many other "AA" games were not. "You had a huge amount of AA games that came [in 2025], which nobody cared about. Let's remember that," he said.

The interviewer suggested to Fares that with higher budgets comes more risk-averse decision-making, as the money people want to have a return on investment and may opt for safer bets. Fares doesn't believe this is always the case, saying Naughty Dog is known for "pushing the envelope" with massive budgets, as are companies like Rockstar and Nintendo.

"So you can do a big AAA title but also take innovative risks," he said. "But once you go over a $100 million budget, you're going to be like, 'Okay, sh**. There's a lot of money on the table.' People are more scared. It's understandable. But it's proven that you can do it."

The budgets for Hazelight's games have grown over the years. Split Fiction had almost double the budget of It Takes Two, for example. Still, Hazelight's games are understood to fall within the AA category.

The creative director of Assassin's Creed Unity and Revelations, Alexadre Amancio, recently said AAA game development is broken and problems cannot be solved by "throwing people at it." Instead, he said the future of AAA games might be in smaller teams.

Hazelight is working on a new game now, but it hasn't been announced as of yet. All of Hazelight's games so far have been co-op titles (Brothers was a single-player game with a unique co-op element). Fares said co-op will always be part of Hazelight's DNA, but he didn't rule out the possibility of the studio changing things up. "You never know what happens in the future. It's not impossible we look into single-player as well. But it would be done in a Hazelight way, with a Hazelight twist. It's not going to be your typical single-player game," he said.

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