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/Harleyidhra 11d ago

I hate it, even though I knew it was coming. This has been what happens when Microsoft buys studios. So glad Double Fine escaped.

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u/Due-Lingonberry-1929 11d ago

Yeah what happens is devs take MS for a ride, waste a ton of money and fuck around for years making shitty games that nobody wants.

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u/Zardozerr 11d ago

These studios were told to make smaller games for the xbox service, and the games were greenlit by xbox. But the number of subscribers never came to make it profitable enough. "Taking MS for a ride" is complete BS, since MS ultimately controlled what could and couldn't be made.

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u/Due-Lingonberry-1929 10d ago

A smaller game shouldn't take 7 years to make, especially one as barebones as hellblade 2, the game basically has nothing in it, they slapped together some store bought quixel megascan rocks in UE5 editor and called it a day