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Split Fiction

In yet another victory lap for Hazelight Studios, Split Fiction just became the first videogame to get a design award from Swedish royalty

Justin Wagner

18 September 2025

Josef Fares and co. took home the Excellent Swedish Design award to throw on their giant pile of accolades.

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(Image credit: Hazelight Studios)

Hazelight Studios proved it could go the distance when It Takes Two sold an eye-watering 20 million copies and took home The Game Awards’ Game of the Year, and follow-up Split Fiction is keeping the momentum strong. Not only did it sell a million copies in two days, it’s also rapidly amassed glowing reviews and award nominations of its own—the latest of which was presented by the highest authority on videogames. That’s right: his majesty Carl Philip, duke of Värmland and prince of Sweden.

We all know that the good prince knows his GTA 5s from his Herzog Zweis, which makes it all the more galling that the Excellent Swedish Design award has never been given to a videogame before now. I suppose I can blame that on Svensk Form, or the Swedish Design Association, the non-profit which doles out the award annually.
Split Fiction was one of a dozen recipients alongside not-videogames like the TP-7 field recorder by Teenage Engineering and a furniture collection called The King’s Hat. It isn’t possible to apply for the award, but Svensk Form’s inclusion of game designer Bobbi A. Sand in the curation jury may have had something to do with the co-op platformer’s nomination.

Related Articles

The deeply simulated roguelike strangeness of Caves of Qud won this year’s Hugo Award for Best Game or Interactive Work

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Swedish royalty (left) and his buddy (right) 😏But seriously – the prince of Sweden, his majesty Carl Philip, just awarded Split Fiction the prestigious Excellent Swedish Design award. We’re thankful to be the first videogame to ever receive it! 👑🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/9xT5KvOJDjSeptember 17, 2025

I don’t mean to suggest Split Fiction doesn’t deserve the award—great games should be recognized as cultural achievements. Josef Fares’ beaming smile next to the Swedish prince is a nice reminder that sometimes the games industry isn’t all hellfire and torment. (Granted, I don’t expect Split Fiction publisher EA to win any awards for laying off a chunk of its workforce earlier this year, but this is a positive article so I’ll shut up.)

Bully for Hazelight: Split Fiction is a rollicking good time. There’s also a movie based on the game in development, but I’m not yet convinced it’s real.

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Justin Wagner

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he’s amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky ’90s esoterica. Whether he’s extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it’s hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he’s not at his keyboard, he’s probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now…

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The deeply simulated roguelike strangeness of Caves of Qud won this year’s Hugo Award for Best Game or Interactive Work

Helldivers 2 players celebrate victory over Sony as the ‘review bomb’ cape finally appears in the game: ‘We won the biggest and longest running Major Order in the game to date’

Lies of P: Overture devs actually rewarded for making a solid DLC in rare industry W: Getting a bonus, 2 weeks vacation, and a free Switch 2

Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski gets gold Polish culture medal, accepts it with face like he’s just had his Switch 2 pre-order cancelled

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs are the new popular kids on the RPG block, visiting both Hideo Kojima and Final Fantasy creators Square Enix for ‘a creatively rich exchange of visions and ideas’

‘It’s not like we applied for the award ourselves’: Dave the Diver director reminds people that ‘there’s nothing indie’ about his game and the controversial indie nomination was out of his control

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