It Takes Two Sells 7 Million Units; Josef Fares Reveals He Was Heavily Indebted During A Way Out’s Development

Swedish game development team Hazelight Studios announced last Friday that their latest game, It Takes Two, has now surpassed 7 million units sold.

It Takes Two launched almost a year and a half ago to highly positive reviews. Here on Wccftech, Nathan Birch gave it 8 out of 10.

It Takes Two is one of the most varied, inventive games ever made, serving up dozens upon dozens of different styles of gameplay in a remarkably polished, approachable package. An inconsistent level of challenge and lack of editing may strain your relationship with the game at times, but It Takes Two is good enough to justify working through the rough patches.

Before It Takes Two, Hazelight Studios released their debut game, A Way Out. Nathan liked that one even more, rating it 9 out of 10.

A Way Out is an impressive achievement that definitively proves creativity matters more than bloated budgets and big-name franchises. A technically accomplished, endlessly inventive co-op masterpiece, A Way Out will surprise and excite you from beginning to end. This one deserves to be a breakout hit.

However, Hazelight founder Josef Fares recently revealed to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he was heavily indebted during the development of A Way Out.

We started as a very small team that I brought with me from the development of “Brothers”. We were maybe ten people in the beginning, but towards the end we were type 35, and the ambitions of the game grew, of course, something so sick a lot. At first it would be a simpler game, but then it became more and more and more ambitious. This meant that the budget was not enough. It kind of did not go together. When we were in the middle of the project, I realize that we are five million behind. I panicked a bit but I said nothing to the team. I had no salary for people for several months to come. I think many people today do not know about it.

Fares ultimately turned to his old job, that of filmmaking, to direct some commercials that would help him square off the debt. The rest, as they say, is history.