With It Takes Two slowly approaching its March release date, director Josef Fares has been making the rounds to promote Hazelight Studios' intriguing co-op title. As is usually the case with Fares, the mind behind It Takes Two was refreshingly honest when asked about the console war and which console's strategy he prefers.
In an interview with GamingBolt, Fares detailed his thoughts on the always-relevant console debate, starting by saying that he does “not really care about consoles” and has “always been focused on games, games, games.” He adds that he shares a similar stance to that of Xbox boss Phil Spencer, choosing not to see it as a competition and not wanting to play sides. At the same time, the director of A Way Out has a preference for singleplayer games, making him more approving of the strategy Sony has had with its PlayStation brand.
Per Fares “I’m much more a fan of Sony’s strategy, because they make more unique IPS and focus more on games that I really enjoy that are story-heavy.” With Fares’ games having a clear focus on memorable characters and narratives, this stance makes sense, with the game director adding that he hopes “Microsoft goes that way” with its own exclusives. He also highlights Naughty Dog's The Last of Us games and Insomniac’s Spider-Man series as examples of why Sony’s strategy works so well for him.
While Fares prefers PlayStation’s singleplayer exclusives and the way that they consistently introduce bold new IPs, he does speak highly of Xbox’s Game Pass system. Referring to it as “the Netflix of gaming” due to all the third party titles Game Pass has made available to its subscribers, Fares shares that he is interested to see how the concept evolves over time and wonders if it will be successful for Microsoft in the long term. However, he also highlights an issue with the system that ties back to his preference for PlayStation games.
According to Fares, “if there’s no games, [Game Pass] makes no sense. Doesn’t matter, you know?” While Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games to choose from, Fares would like to see more original IPs coming from Microsoft along with a greater focus on singleplayer titles like Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Reiterating that he hopes “Sony continues with what they are doing... making great games... and all that they do,” Fares’ preference seems clear. While it remains to be seen if Microsoft takes an approach like Sony’s going forward, it seems like Fares would certainly like them to do so.
While Josef Fares’ It Takes Two will likely not come to Switch, it is releasing on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Though players can use his recent interview as an indicator of which company he would work with if he had to choose between the two, fortunately, it seems like he does not have to pick sides, as Xbox and PlayStation fans alike will be able to enjoy his next game.
It Takes Two launches March 26, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: GamingBolt