A Way Out

A Way Out is a co-op crime thriller from Hazelight Studios (Stockholm), released on March 23, 2018 through the EA Originals program. The game is strictly for two players: there is no single-player mode, and the split screen is always on, locally (one computer, two gamepads) or online via Steam. The core of the game is constant coordination: the two players see different things and must act together from the first scene to the last.

The story is set in the United States in the late 1970s. Vincent Moretti is a newcomer who was sent to prison for financial fraud and has a family waiting outside; Leo Caruso is a repeat offender looking for a specific man named Harvey. A prison escape, a road trip across the American South, a chase through Mexico City: the whole story takes roughly 6-8 hours and is designed as "one evening with a friend", not a grind.

Friend Pass makes the purchase simpler: one purchased copy is enough. The owner invites a partner, who downloads the free Trial Edition through the EA App and plays the whole game with no limits on time or content. On PC the partner only needs a free EA account; on consoles the online mode requires an active PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass Core subscription for both players.

This is the standard setup for EA games on Steam and has been checked by the community.

Localization: official Russian subtitles and interface since release (March 2018); voice-over is available only in English, French, German and Spanish. A fan voice-over by R.G. MVO (Mechanics VoiceOver) exists as an unofficial mod: live voice acting, not synthesized speech; it is installed with a separate patch and is not supported by EA.

A Way Out is the first project of Hazelight, a studio founded by director Josef Fares (previously at Starbreeze, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 2013). The studio deliberately makes only co-op games: A Way Out was followed by It Takes Two (2021, GOTY at The Game Awards) and Split Fiction (2025). The three games share mandatory co-op and Friend Pass, but not characters or story: this is an author's series, not sequels. At The Game Awards 2017 Fares gave a monologue with "Fk the Oscars" that became a meme, one of the most recognizable moments of gaming culture of the past decade.

Metacritic 81 (PC, 32 reviews): IGN 9/10, GameSpot 8/10; Steam: "Very Positive" ~92% over 8 years with no dips. By March 2025 the game had sold 13 million copies; in total the Hazelight series has passed the mark of 50 million. Steam Deck: Playable status (Valve verification, September 2022). Online mode with a partner on a separate PC is more convenient than split screen on a 7-inch display.

A Way Out is a co-op crime thriller from Hazelight (Stockholm) that cannot be played alone: two prisoners, Vincent and Leo, break out of prison and then travel across the American South of the 1970s. The screen is always split between two players, locally or online. Friend Pass: one purchased copy is enough for a pair, and the second player plays for free. It is the first Hazelight project and started the studio's series of co-op games (It Takes Two 2021, Split Fiction 2025). Russian subtitles, English voice-over.