Since its launch in March 2021, Hazelight Studios’ couch co-op action-adventure game It Takes Two has shown that sometimes it really does take two, and that can be a lot of fun. Less than a month after release, It Takes Two had already sold over one million copies and become a Steam top-seller. The game continues to sell strongly, and it just hit another milestone.
It Takes Two received positive reviews almost across the board, becoming the top-rated game of 2021 on Metacritic when it launched. While the game has since slipped from that top spot, it is an impressive accomplishment when one considers that It Takes Two offers no single-player option, requiring people to play either split-screen couch co-op or online with another player.
In June, Hazelight Studios announced on Twitter that It Takes Two had achieved another significant milestone, selling two million copies less than three months after release. In the past, the game's writer and director Josef Fares personally thanked everyone who had purchased It Takes Two, stating the game’s performance “shows that there definitely [are] players that also [want] to play co-op only games!”
Recounting the fantastical adventures of Cody and May, a couple on the verge of divorce, It Takes Two features gameplay mechanics from a range of genres, including platforming, shooters, and even a section played with an isometric view like Diablo. In every level, the characters each gain a special power, such as the ability to rewind time or teleport, and these must be used in tandem to solve puzzles and progress. It Takes Two is a game that requires cooperation, both in-game and out, to succeed.
It Takes Two seems well on its way to surpass Hazelight’s previous cooperative game, A Way Out, which has sold a little over 3.5 million copies three years after its release. Also directed by Fares, A Way Out was the studio’s first foray into this unique format that requires two people to work together, in this case to escape from prison.
The two games are not Fares’ first time experimenting with novel gameplay mechanics. Before Hazelight, the game developer worked at Starbreeze Studios, where he was director of the narrative co-op game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a sorrowful story in which two boys set out to find a cure for their father’s illness. Although the game was originally not developed to be multiplayer, the two brothers are each manipulated individually with a thumbstick on the controller, and each have unique abilities that must be used to overcome the game’s obstacles.
It Takes Two is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.