Let’s face it, local co-op games are a rarity to play these days. The opportunity to play something new with a cooperative gameplay design only occurs once every few years, especially since Hazelight Studios has been one of the few companies still honing this multiplayer genre. Director Josef Fares has been at the forefront of creating games specifically made to play alongside a friend. Hazelight Studios’ recent action-adventure cooperative game, Split Fiction, has finally made its way to players worldwide, with Fares’ goal of continuing to bring the best couch co-op experience possible. While many are starting to dive into its sci-fi and fantasy worlds with their peers, there is a way to play Split Fiction free that doesn’t involve paying a toll to explore with a friend.
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Split Fiction has been making waves through the gaming community since its debut in December during The Game Awards. With the game already scoring a 91 on Metacritic and therefore topping the chart for Best Games of the Year 2025, the attention on Hazelight’s newest project has been nonstop. The studio’s previous title It Takes Two was met with critical success from critics and fans alike, selling over 20 million units by October 2024, meaning that more than 40 million people played the game.
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As per Hazelight Studios tradition, Split Fiction will feature a Friend’s Pass. The Split Fiction Friend’s Pass is designed to allow players to play with a friend online for free, without the need to buy a copy of the game. If you or your friend has a copy of Split Fiction, they can invite the other person to play for free. This pass is also designed to be available for cross-play, meaning that you can play with anyone who has a different console than yours, which opens up the playing field for those who want to play with a friend on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
To access Friend’s Pass, one individual has to own Split Fiction. For a friend to play the game, they need to download Friend’s Pass on their platform, which will allow them to access Split Fiction once an invite is sent from the purchaser. Once that is done, the entire game is available for you and your friend to dive into. If you purchased the game but don’t have a friend to play it with, there is an official Hazelight Discord server that will allow you to chat with other players and find another player to enjoy Split Fiction with.
Are you excited to play Split Fiction? Let us know in the comments section down below!