Hazelight Studios will never make live service games regardless of what EA thinks

In a recent interview, the founder of Hazelight Studios, ‘Josef Fares’ shared his thoughts on live-service games and why the studio will never make one. This comes after Electronic Arts (EA) tried to blame the lack of live service in Dragon Age The Veilguard for its underperformance. Fares on the other hand does not believe in live service games.

“I think [live service] is not the right way to go. I hope more and more [developers] focus on their passion, and what they believe in. At the end of the day, we see clearly - and Hazelight is living proof - that when you trust in your vision and go with it, you can still reach a big audience. That's what I want people to focus on,” fares said talking to Eurogamer.

Hazelight Studios and EA have a long-running developer/publisher relationship. EA has published both games developed by Hazelight, ‘A Way Out’ and ‘It Takes Two’. The recent State of Play showcased a new story trailer for their upcoming game Split Fiction.

Game publishers need to compromise

Fares acknowledged that the publishers also have monetary issues, but they can’t simply disregard art and will have to compromise. “I have an understanding that publishers have a lot of, you know, worries about the 'money issue'. But, I think also you have to understand that we are working with a piece of art here, so you have to respect the creativity as well,” he further added.

Making a profit, as per Fares can never be the main goal, something which many gamers will understand. There has been a huge ongoing debate regarding live service games and how the companies are simply using them to maximize profits.

Also Read:Developers behind It Takes Two share gameplay for upcoming title ‘Split Fiction’

Are live-service games bad?

Live service games, especially the ones that are mainly a single-player experience are heavily frowned upon by the gaming community. Often, companies use this to add microtransactions and forget to add gameplay elements. However, not all live service games are bad. Some games, like Fortnite and GTA Online, have found a perfect balance to make it successful.