Summary
Taking a page out ofIt Takes Two’s book,Split Fictionis also set to support the Friend’s Pass feature, with an added boost for teams playing on different platforms. First introduced in 2021’sIt Takes Two, the Hazelight Studios game precedingSplit Fiction, Friend’s Pass allows the owner of the game to invite another player for online co-op sessions without the latter needing to purchase a copy.
Since its debut withA Way Outin 2018, Hazelight Studios has made multiple successful contributions to the co-op genre, thanks to a couple of award-winning two-player experiences. In particular, the Swedish studio led by Josef Fares, also known for directing the 2013 co-op hitBrothers: A Tale of Two Sons, enjoyed tremendous popularity after shippingIt Takes Twoin 2021. Since bagging the Game of the Year recognition at The Game Awards 2021, theEA-published title has gone on to sellin excess of 20 million copies. These numbers were despiteIt Takes Twocoming with the Friend’s Pass feature, something that its spiritual successor,Split Fiction, is also confirmed to come bundled with.
EA announced that the Friend’s Pass feature fromIt Takes Twois set to be retained forSplit Fictionas well, along with newly added cross-play support across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It makes the co-op title, slated for release on March 6, the first game from Hazelight Studios to offer cross-play functionality. For the returning feature to work successfully, at least one player needs to own the game, while the other needs to have Friend’s Pass downloaded. The owner would then need to send an invite to the other player, who has to accept the same in-game in order to play. Moreover, those who are at first unsure about diving intoSplit Fiction’s co-op adventurecan also jump into a trial version together using the Friend’s Pass, after which they can carry forward their progress into the rest of the game if one of them purchases a copy.
Split Fiction Joins the List of Games that Offer a Friend’s Pass-Like Feature
With the formal confirmation ofSplit Fictioncoming with the Friend’s Pass, the forthcoming game has become the third consecutive title from Hazelight Studios to offer such a feature, afterA Way OutandIt Takes Two. Interestingly, there are some games by other developers as well that only need one person to own the game for co-op sessions, among whichRainbox Six Extractionwith its Buddy Pass supportis a prominent one.
Meanwhile, asSplit Fiction’s launch approaches closer by the day,Hazelight Studios seems to have already kicked off its plansfor what’s next. Earlier in February, Fares said that the team had started working on its next project, which intriguingly may or may not be a co-op game.
