Split Fiction Becomes First Video Game to Win Excellent Swedish Design Award

Split Fiction (Credit: Hazelight Studios)

Hazelight Studios’ latest release, Split Fiction, has officially become the first video game to win Sweden’s Excellent Swedish Design award.

Split Fiction launched earlier this year as Hazelight’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed It Takes Two. The game quickly proved itself commercially, selling one million copies within its first two days on the market, setting three Guinness World Records.

For comparison, its predecessor went on to sell over 20 million copies and secured Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Hazelight now seems to be continuing that upward momentum with its latest project.

Award Recognition from Swedish Royalty

The Excellent Swedish Design award was presented to Split Fiction by Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, who has long shown interest in gaming culture. According to reports, the award has never before been given to a video game, making Hazelight’s recognition particularly historic.

The award itself is administered by Svensk Form, the Swedish Design Association, a non-profit organization that highlights excellence across fields ranging from industrial design to cultural contributions.

Previous winners have included innovative products like Teenage Engineering’s TP-7 field recorder and furniture collections, but never a title from the gaming sector.

Unlike many awards, the Excellent Swedish Design accolade cannot be applied for; nominees are curated by a selected jury. This year, that jury included game designer Bobbi A. Sand, which may have helped open the door for Split Fiction’s inclusion.

Alongside the game’s success, a film adaptation of Split Fiction is currently in development. Wicked director Jon M. Chu will helm the project, while Sydney Sweeney will play a lead role.

Meanwhile, Hazelight Studios has already started working on its next game, just weeks after the Split Fiction release. According to studio head Josef Fares, they are "so fully focused and excited on the next thing that we've already started."

The new game is still in its very early stages of development. However, Fares revealed that they've already compiled around 130 pages of ideas for the game's story and some initial gameplay concepts.