Split Fiction and It Takes Two director Josef Fares doesn’t see AI “taking over”, but admits “who knows what happens in the future”

Josef Fares, known for his outspoken and often expletive laden thoughts (remember that Oscars rant?), has now shared his opinion on one of the moment’s hottest topics: AI.

AI really can’t be escaped these days. In 2024, a report by Unity claimed 62 percent of studios using its tools used AI at some point during game development. In this report, Unity noted animation was the top use case. A GDC survey from that same year, meanwhile, said that around a third of industry workers reported using AI tools already. It is fair to say that figure will likely be higher now.

But, what of Fares’ studio Hazelight, which has released acclaimed games such as It Takes Two and Split Fiction since its conception.

“We have been working with AI for a long time in game development,” Fares said during a recent interview with The Game Business. The vocal developer added that if an AI tool is “helpful to get your vision out there”, then he doesn’t see “why we shouldn’t look into it”. However, when it comes to generative AI, he understands that’s where people are less keen to see the technology adopted, and this controversial tool is where “the problem” is.

“It’s really hard to answer. If you look at Midjourney, for instance, when it came out it was so impressive. And five years later… the bar hasn’t gone up much,” Fares explained. “Maybe this is the limit of it. You get someone generating a game concept and saying, ‘oh look what might happen in five years?’ But who knows? In five years, maybe it’s going to be like Midjourney… not much better.”

When it all comes down to it, though, Fares stated there still needs to be “someone that has a vision or idea of what game it is”, and therefore he doesn’t “see AI taking over”. That said, he admitted it’s also “really hard to answer”, because: “Who knows what happens in the future?”