Josef Fares

Josef Fares (born 19 September 1977) is a Swedish film director and video game designer. His brother is the actor Fares Fares, who has appeared in several of his films and games. He is the founder of Hazelight Studios. He was presented The Game Award for Game of the Year for his game It Takes Two at The Game Awards in 2021. He also directed the game Split Fiction.

Biography

Josef Fares moved to Sweden when he was 10 years old, fleeing the Lebanese Civil War with his family. Variety declared him one of ten upcoming directors to watch in 2006. The same year he won the Nordic Council Film Prize for his film Zozo. In 2013, he directed his first video game, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The game was well received by critics. Its focus is on the interaction between two brothers and their journey to save their father. He next formed his own development company, named Hazelight Studios, and partnered with publisher Electronic Arts for his next video game, A Way Out, which was released 23 March 2018.

On 7 December 2017 Fares appeared on The Game Awards 2017 and gave a speech while on stage with host Geoff Keighley, where he strongly criticized the Oscars due to their ranking films above video games.

Fares includes the speech as an Easter egg in his 2021 game It Takes Two. His comments were censored, and he referenced the speech, while saying that the "Oscars got fucked", as he accepted the Game of the Year Award at The Game Awards 2021.

Industry perspective In an interview to The Washington Post following It Takes Twos win at The Game Awards 2021, Fares expressed his perspective on several topics in the game industry. He said he would "rather get shot in the knee" than include NFTs in future games, he also put forward that adjusting game design to make the player pay is wrong, and stated "For me, gaming is art". Fares has also commented on the topic of sexual harassment within the gaming industry which was brought up at The Game Awards 2021 with respect to Activision Blizzard and its CEO Bobby Kotick, saying "I think sometimes you need to go through some shit to get to the other side. That’s what’s happening", as well as that unions help "but that’s just one of the things. I don’t think it solves everything. Education and knowledge, I think that’s most important."

Personal life Fares has two daughters, Mio and Zoe. The protagonists of Split Fiction are named after his daughters.