"Games are an art form, and 'pure love for gaming' should be the core driving force behind creation."

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Recently, the sequel to "It Takes Two," titled "A Tale of Two Shadows," has officially launched. Have you embarked on a new adventure with your comrades?

On social media and various game streaming platforms, the game has received rave reviews. Many players believe this game will win the TGA Game of the Year, just like "It Takes Two" did in 2021.

When discussing the success of the "It Takes Two" series, one cannot overlook its producer, Josef Fares.

In the gaming world, Josef Fares is known as the "angry brother" and "Quentin of the gaming industry," famous for his outspoken nature.

At The Game Awards in 2017, his "Fuck the Oscars" speech, which criticized the Oscars for ignoring games, became widely known and turned into a popular meme.

In terms of game philosophy, Josef Fares pursues the ultimate purity of gaming.

Josef Fares firmly opposes any form of microtransactions in games. He believes that the infiltration of capital into game design distorts the essence of creation. When development teams start thinking about "how to make players pay more," the narrative pacing and character development of the game become subservient to monetization points.

This insistence is particularly evident in "It Takes Two" — the game neither sells character skins nor includes any repetitive content to extend gameplay. Instead, it creates a sales miracle of 23 million copies through its ingenious co-op level design, with half of the sales coming from Chinese players.

Josef Fares' love for games, especially co-op games, may also be related to his childhood experiences.

Born in Lebanon in 1977 during the civil war, the sounds of gunfire and smoke were the main colors of his childhood, with only games adding a splash of color.

"If I went to a friend's house and there was no game console, it felt as uncomfortable as not having a toilet."

Josef has an older brother named Fares Fares, and the two brothers quickly adapted to life in Sweden, learning Swedish in just three months.

They lived in the inland city of Örebro, known for producing many punk rock bands and a rich artistic atmosphere, where the brothers began performing in a local theater group.

Young Josef developed a strong interest in film, and with a self-taught spirit, he shot 50 short films during his teenage years and submitted them to global film festivals. In 1998, he entered the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts to study film directing, during which he completed his first feature film, "Jalla! Jalla!," which achieved box office success in Sweden. He subsequently created works such as "Kopps," "Zozo" (which won the Nordic Council Film Prize), and "Leo," gaining prominence in the film industry.

In 2013, Fares' career took a significant turn — he left the film industry to dive into game development. Drawing inspiration from their brotherly story, he created his first game, "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons," which was a huge success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide and establishing his position in the gaming industry.

Unlike the Josef works we know today, "A Way Out" and "It Takes Two," "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons" features two protagonists but is a single-player game where players control the older brother and younger brother with their left and right hands, respectively. This rare control method was a firm requirement from Josef: "We've seen many great stories in games, but what I want to do is a narrative method that only games can carry."

Josef said, "At the end of 'Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons,' when the older brother dies, and the player only needs to control the younger brother with one hand, they can truly feel what they have lost. That is the climax, and it is what I pursue."

In addition to having an older brother, Josef actually had a younger brother who died in the war, which may also serve as a form of remembrance.

He then founded Hazelight Studios, focusing on developing story-driven cooperative games.

In 2018, he released "A Way Out," and in 2021, "It Takes Two."

Josef's pursuit of gameplay is almost fanatical; he even criticized the "replayability" that many games today strive for.

Most developers in the gaming industry are committed to making their games at least "replayable," which is why we see so many unlockable content, collectibles, and treasures in games. But Josef believes this is a flaw in the gaming industry, as developers are too fixated on replayability rather than focusing their energy on making games fun.

"Replayability is a strange concept. Do you know what percentage of players actually replay a game? I don't know if it's true, but I think the proportion of players who buy a game and never finish it is definitely higher than those who replay it. Yet, our focus remains on this small group."

As for the once-popular NFTs, Josef stated he would rather "get shot in the knee than add NFTs to a game."

He emphasizes that games are an art form, opposing any microtransactions and "pay-to-win" models, advocating that "pure love for gaming" should be the core driving force behind creation.

This reminds me of a previous interview with Daniel, the first investor in "Black Myth: Wukong," where he criticized Web3 games.

"The common trend of 'technology + games' when new technologies emerge, such as Web3 games and AI games, often struggles to succeed. It's always about games plus something else," he said, adding that investors should focus more on the team itself rather than being misled by new technological directions.

Daniel noted that he has seen many game industry entrepreneurs shift to the Web3 field after its rise, but he "would never invest" in such projects, explaining: "First of all, they don't love games, so how could they possibly make good games?"

This may also be the dilemma of GameFi — it's not pure.

Many GameFi project developers do not genuinely love games; they merely view games as a shell to package financial products, a narrative that caters to investors.

The field of blockchain games is filled with self-deception and mutual deception.

Some developers deceive themselves into thinking that the inclusion of economic systems like NFTs will make games better; developers deceive investors and users by claiming to create "revolutionary and fun games"; investors deceive themselves into believing these projects will disrupt the gaming industry; players deceive themselves into thinking they are "earning while playing," rather than participating in a zero-sum game. This multi-layered deception forms a fragile foundation for the entire ecosystem.

There is never just one path to success in the world. "Genshin Impact" can succeed with an open world and gacha mechanics, "Black Myth: Wukong" can succeed with AAA graphics and passionate combat, Tencent's recharge system can make you stronger, and "It Takes Two" can succeed with its pursuit of ultimate gameplay and co-op interaction.

However, trying to be both fun and financially asset-driven while having nothing — no gameplay and no good economic model — is destined to fail.

It would be better for GameFi developers to be more honest and simply say, "We are making a gamified Ponzi scheme, using games to package tokens," abandoning the "good game narrative." This would be purer and more likely to succeed.

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