Hazelight StudiosThe director of Split Fiction has revealed that he’d love to win Game of the Year for a second time, but admitted that there’s one game slated for 2025 that’ll be difficult to beat.
It Takes Two surprised everyone when it launched back in 2021, quickly becoming one of the year’s most critically-acclaimed games and scooping Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Now, developer Hazelight Studios have released Split Fiction, another co-op experience that balances medieval fantasy and sci-fi in an adventure that’s bigger and, according to our review, better than its predecessor.
After receiving plenty of praise since its release on March 6, many fans are already wondering if the devs can secure a second GOTY crown. However, director Josef Fares thinks there’s one obvious contender that could prove too good to beat — GTA 6.
Split Fiction director admits it’ll be “tough” to beat GTA 6
In an episode of Dexerto’s Fall Damage series, Fares was responding to comments from fans. One message, posted months before the game’s release, said that Split Fiction was a shoo-in for another GOTY award, before adding: “I know a winner when I see one!”
The dev was coy in his response though, saying: “I would really appreciate it if we won game of the year, but on the other hand I’m a huge fan of GTA. I think if [GTA 6] comes out it’ll be really tough, and I want it to come out cause I’m a huge fan.”
GTA 6 still currently has a release window of Fall 2025, although the lack of news since the 2023 reveal trailer has sparked plenty of rumors about possible delays. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick also admitted that it’s possible the long-awaited sequel will be pushed back, but the company “feels really good” about meeting the deadline.
If it does finally arrive this year, it’s expected to be one of the biggest releases of all-time, and will likely fair very well come awards season if Rockstar’s previous games are anything to go by.
But Fares clearly isn’t worried about GTA 6 coming along and scooping up the accolades, as he also mentioned that he has a lot of love for the series and has played GTA 5 multiple times.
“The only game, kind of, I’ve replayed is GTA 5, the story. I really love that,” he continued.
While GTA 6 will no doubt be the favorite to win Game of the Year if it does arrive this year, there are plenty of other big releases still to come. Check out our calendar of every game coming in 2025 to see what else could be a contender.
