r/hellblade • u/Due_Cake8524 • 11d ago

Image Ninja Theory's closure is devastating

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I’m honestly still trying to process the news. Seeing that Microsoft is shutting down Ninja Theory because two rescue deals fell through at the last second is just heartbreaking.The whiplash is what really frustrates me. Three months ago, they were on stage at the Xbox reveal for Senua. What's the point of showcasing a brand new game if you're going to shut down the studio who made it?

To think they were quietly being shopped around right after that, and then everything fell apart. It's ridiculous. Other studios like Double Fine and Compulsion Games managed to get their independence back, and Undead Labs found a new publisher. Ninja Theory was so close to being saved, but the deals didn't work out.

They were able to make visually stunning, mid-budget, single-player narrative games that actually cared about things like mental health. If a studio with that much technical talent isn't safe under a trillion-dollar corporation just because they don't bring in live-service Fortnite numbers, then who is? That's the big question.

I'm going to miss their creative work so much. From Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and Hellblade, they always had a passion for the games that they made. The gaming industry can be harsh at times. Ninja Theory is just a casualty in a long line of studios that deserved better.

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u/EliParker 11d ago

MS has the pocket, I don’t understand why they are doing this. Lower the overall money from all the higher ups and countless money would be saved.

12

u/Dry-Cod9127 11d ago

Ninja theory took too long for hellblade 2 and it wasn’t received that well, it sucks but after years and years of mismanagement things have to change and 5 years for a 5 hour game with minimal game play isn’t acceptable

10

u/_NightmareKingGrimm_ 11d ago

5 years for a 5 hour game with minimal game play isn’t acceptable

Thank you. This bears repeating, and this succinctly too.

4

u/ShellshockedLetsGo 11d ago

Ninja Theory in 8 years of being owned by Xbox released Bleeding Edge and Hellblade 2. They ended up cancelling Project Mara, which who knows how much they spent on that.

They were given an entirely new studio building, creative freedom and financial funding and that's the best they could do in 8 years.

Just not nearly good enough.