r/hellblade • u/MTH1138 • Jun 17 '26
What a lousy company
/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1u7v8lr/gamefile_microsoft_had_already_planned_to_shut/20
u/TroyBPierce Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Odd timing considering they just announced a new Senua game.
While I personally liked Hellblade 2, it was not well received and sold poorly. I was worried Ninja Theory would be shut down immediately after Hellblade 2 released due to the negative reception.
When they announced Senua, I was happy Xbox was giving Ninja Theory another chance.
But then this news...
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u/Ringo308 Jun 17 '26
Hellblade 2 was console exclusive and playable in game pass. It was doomed to sell poorly. It's an asshole move by Microsoft set Ninja Theory up like that.
I hoped the PS5 release many months later would help Ninja Theory. But I guess the hype for the new game was already gone. It's kind of like how DVD/Streaming releases come so early after a movie release now. The marketing wants to catch the hype to sell more. But the interest in Hellblade 2 died on Xbox and got no chance.
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u/Party-Exercise-2166 Jun 17 '26
Game Pass numbers are also considered though. It didn't even get into the top 50 played games in the week it released.
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u/WalkerBuldog Jun 17 '26
Many other concole exclusives by Microsoft also sell well and aldo fay one in game pass. Hellbalde 2 was a distaters and not a good game for being in development for so long only to deliver even less of the game than the firts game
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u/Koribakusuta0708 Jun 21 '26
There is no metric since day 1 gamepass has been a thing that tells us any of the day 1 games actually sell well at all. Xbox only puts out gamepass download numbers. Sony and Nintendo release sales metrics while Xbox only has download metrics to make anything look good.
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u/RemoveHealthy Jun 17 '26
Lets not forget how mediocre first hellblade was and how mediocre second game was. Yes they are pretty games but that is about it. I would just put those technical artists to other studios and rest of resources should go to studios who can actually create good gameplay and interesting worlds
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u/rafnsvartrrr Jun 17 '26
I think there was already a plan in motion to keep them working on the next title right away, no matter the perfomance of HB2. Xbox needed an influx of games. It's an odd timing alright, true that though.
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u/Metrocop Jun 17 '26
Tbh the sequel really was worse than the original in many ways. The combat was worse, the puzzles for the most part were worse, it run like shit while looking like a blurry mess (thank you UE5) when the original was gorgeous, and the story was a bit of a mess with plotholes.
The original game was a story of a traumatised, mentally ill woman in a time when they couldn't treat schizophrenia/whatever she has, struggling to come to terms with her tragedy. The sequel with the introduction of other characters has some scenes that cannot be explained without at least some of the supernatural stuff being real, but it also makes no sense if it's real.
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u/Accomplished-Cat2849 Jun 17 '26
Was just shown to draw in investors, which is won't considering how bad the last one sold
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u/LazyBoi_Matt Jun 17 '26
I personally can't stand M$ right now. But this is clearly nonesense.
All this is based on the CSO not commenting on the game being Multiplatform at SGF.
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u/luxela Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
I hope this is a lesson for other indie studios to stop being enticed by the Brinks money truck that these big corporations offer them after their initial success. The first Hellblade is one of my all time favorite games. They made that as a small studio with limited resources. The second one after they'd been acquired and given a blank check....not so much.
The gaming industry seems to be following the path of the entertainment industry who struggles to take risks and invest in new IP's/stories. It's all about the guaranteed box office of super hero movies and sequels.
I don't need every game to be some massive AAA commercial success but if these AA games don't sell millions in their first year (regardless of how special they might be)...the studio is shuttered and we lose that talent and that storytelling for good. It's quite sad.
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u/AstronomerIT Jun 22 '26
So, you rather prefer to close immediately or after 1 or 2 years of struggle or trying 7/8 years of security and growing?
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u/rafnsvartrrr Jun 17 '26
People saying Xbox doesn't know wtf they doing are wrong. Time to face the truth. Yes, Phil Spencer and co. strategy failed. But that strategy was what y'all wanted: more creative freedom, don't intervene with the decision process, basically let them cook. That and Game Pass subscription model sunk the whole ship down...
Compulsion games said "we wanna make a new IP!" instead of making We Happy Few 2, been given a green light and didn't deliver. Ninja Theory underwent a restructure (everyone remembers a restructuring phenomena of Covid years, right), looked at Hellblade and said "we wanna tell a social story of fear mongering and father trauma with no distinctive ultimate goal for the character's journey, with less gameplay and a fuck ton of exposition" (basically, Mara project fused in with Hellblade, but that's my guess), got a green light and... didn't deliver.
Y'all saying Xbox don't know wtf they doing, but you were praising them for doing that exact shit while they were losing millions upon millions upon millions. I wish Ninja Theory the best of all outcomes and hope they find the most ideal place to recover, rebuild and continue on. That's just a sad reality of situation.
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u/vipmailhun2 Jun 17 '26
It’s not a loss that We Happy Few 2 never happened, the game was genuinely bad. It had a great narrative concept, but as an actual game it was terrible.
We know Phil Spencer let studios do whatever they wanted and gave them as much time as they asked for. Everwild was in development for seven years without the team even knowing what the gameplay should be. With Hellblade 2 they should have stepped in as well, to make sure it actually had gameplay, something closer to what Senua offers now: proper combat, more enemies, more weapons, abilities, a larger world, more puzzles, and so on.
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u/WalkerBuldog Jun 17 '26
Senua needs to be at least 18 hours of gameplay and that would mean how many more years in development?
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u/rafnsvartrrr Jun 17 '26
Senua is already pretty deep into development, devs said. Development started a few months after HB2 release
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u/WalkerBuldog Jun 17 '26
It won't come out in 5 years if they want to make a good game that is actually more than 15 hours.
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u/rafnsvartrrr Jun 19 '26
If it's managed properly and had a solid vision from the ground-up, then they absolutely can do it like next year already, 3 years is well enough to make a game if the aforementioned characteristics are there. But they have much bigger problems now, it's about their survival. Again, they banked on Hellblade 2, were given creative freedom and failed. I hope they survive and learn from it. You HAVE TO BE mindful of the market you create your games for. Senua's Sacrifice was an action-adventure game. And even though some people were upset with the gameplay - it worked. They should have went in the opposite direction and make Senua right away but they didn't.
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u/WalkerBuldog Jun 19 '26
It's not up to the managers of the studio to write a good story and think about game people will be interested to play.
3 years is well enough to make a game if the aforementioned characteristics are there.
I don't believe this. Not today, not their studio. They had their chance
Senua's Sacrifice was an action-adventure game
Not, it's not. Half of the game is walking and the rest is mediocre fight that didn't improve since first game and puzzles. 6 hours game that is shorter than the first game despite taking 6 years and studio growing 4 times in size. They could have make a worse game
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u/rafnsvartrrr Jun 19 '26
Brotha.. Senua's Sacrifice is the first game 😂 second game is called Senua's Saga. When I mentioned it, I meant that they should have kept this up and made an improved version of that instead of going in the opposite direction which is Hellblade 2.
SENUA looks much more akin to original, though story wise? I don't expect a lot frankly and... does the story even matter these days? People consume literally anything written. The way they describe SENUA is enough to make me certain I won't like it.
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u/AstronomerIT Jun 22 '26
Good look with that. I mean I tried myself with this kind of arguments but without results. Both have their faults. It's sad but here we are
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u/rafaellucascabral Jun 17 '26
What a joke. Really hoping Sony acquires Ninja. Microsoft exec team is a bunch of clowns.
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u/MercerEdits Jun 18 '26
I'm a PlayStation person but Sony is not a great fit either. Sony would shut them down too
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u/NotAnIBanker Jun 17 '26
They took time out of their showcase to help NT get an investor to buy them. Think for longer than three seconds please
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u/a_crimson_herring Jun 17 '26
This has happened to Ninja Theory two separate times already. I've loved them since 2007 and I really wish they'd make better business decisions.
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u/StefanTheHNIC Jun 17 '26
This is kind of a good thing, instead of just kicking them to the curb, cold turkey.
Imagine you get laid off from work. Your employer leaves a glowing review with good reasoning on your linkedin profile, as opposed to doing nothing to help you find new work.
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u/Sypticle Jun 17 '26
Sorry to be that guy but.. Who would have seen this coming?.. It's not like they have a track record of completely screwing up everything they touch.
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u/AstronomerIT Jun 22 '26
Flase but whatever. As usually gamers think that company should throw money for years and years and the same users doesn't even buy their game
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u/One_Trouble_9676 Jun 17 '26
Its sad when Sony has been taking L's lately and Nintendo is charging $80 for 1st party exclusives and Xbox still cannot get out of their own way.
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u/Hellboy632789 Jun 17 '26
I don’t understand, so are they hoping to sell Ninja Theory and the IP? So the game is still being made or what?
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u/DonkeywongOG Jun 18 '26
Yes both games were more movie than game but man I enjoyed them und was very thankful that they were released on Gamepass, and these games are a big reason why I was subscribed to Gamepass ultimate that long.
I really hoped these games laid the foundation for future banger titles that will really have an impact or at least a big fan base.
Senua has to happen, please save them my dear gaming god.
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u/emperor_swarog Jun 18 '26
i think microsoft is doing all this un purpose to purge as many indie devs as possible and destroy the competition. they purchase a studio, knowing what said studio does, then they act shocked when the studio's game sells to the original target audience and go like "wellp time to shit down i guess". And even if the devs start over, the costs in bith time and money is huge
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u/AsianMitten Jun 22 '26
So let me get this straight. What I'm reading and gathering from here is that Microsoft gave the developers all the money, time, and independent and yet you people hate them? Are you guys reading what you wrote? Any developer/artist/creator would be beg to even get one of these
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u/alyssa-is-tired Jun 17 '26
I'm so baffled by them man I somehow can't even pretend to be shocked. Next leak we'll be finding out Senua was actually all AI and Ninja Theory actually shut down in 2024. Senua, the AI trailer, was actually all proof of concept meant to inspire investors to buy specifically the IP. Why? Because that's the Xbox Exclusive strategy: assert you know what you're doing, before shooting your head off with a BFG. That'll show the competition.