On
May
21,
6
years
and
nine
months
after
the
first
game
arrived,
Senua’s
Saga:
Hellblade
2
will
be
published
by
Microsoft
on
Xbox
Series
S,
Xbox
Series
X
and
PC.
It’s
a
massive
moment
for
developer
Ninja
Theory
who
have
spent
countless
hours
working
on
the
follow-up
to
Senua’s
Sacrifice.
It
will
undoubtedly
be
a
momentous
moment
for
the
team,
and
yet
it
will
also
be
overshadowed
by
a
publisher
seemingly
hellbent
on
destroying
its
gaming
division.
Worse,
I
believe
it
will
be
a
moment
tainted
by
fear
as
Ninja
Theory
ask
a
simple
question:
are
we
next?

My
concerns
about
Hellblade
2
don’t
stem
from
the
game
itself
or
from
the
team
working
on
it,
though.
In
fact,
given
everything
we’ve
seen
about
Hellblade
2
so
far,
I’m
confident
that
it’s
going
to
be
visually
stunning,
have
excellent
performances
and
will
do
extremely
well
critically.
The
first
game
was
an
intriguing
dark
fantasy
built
on
a
fantastic
idea:
a
lead
character
suffering
from
psychosis
in
a
world
that
could
not
possibly
comprehend
a
mental
illness
like
it.

In
terms
of
its
ability
to
sell
copies
or
boost
Game
Pass
numbers,
I’m
really
not
sure
how
well
it
will
do,
but
surely
that
won’t
matter
because
Microsoft
and
Xbox
have
said
before
that
Game
Pass
allows
for
the
creation
of
these
smaller,
more
risky
projects.
Right?
Right!?

No,
every
concern
I
have
comes
from
Microsoft
and
its
worrying
mismanagement
of…well,
everything.
It’s
a
company
that
keeps
trying
to
reinvent
Xbox
and
keeps
struggling
to
do
so.
It’s
a
company
that
has

heavily
invested
in
a
subscription
service
that
isn’t
growing
and
demands
constant
feeding.

The
first
point
of
concern
is
the
lack
of
marketing
for
Hellblade
2
despite
being
just
over
a
week
away
from
launch.
Obviously
there
have
been
a
number
of
trailers
and
a
hands-on
preview
which
left
IGN
rather
impressed,
but
it
seems
like
Xbox
hasn’t
been
pushing
Hellblade
2
as
much
as
you
would
expect
considering
it’s
the
company’s
next
big
title.
Only
now
have
ads
started
popping
up
for
it
and
Xbox’s
official
X
account
started
to
Tweet
about
it.
Even
then,
they
didn’t
even
bother
adding
a
link
to
the
game’s
store
page
until
the
second
Tweet
a
day
later.
I
was
also
shocked
to
learn
that
as
of
yesterday,
the
PR
department
haven’t
even
begun
receiving
review
codes
to
hand
out,
meaning
very
few,
if
any,
outlets
have
the
game
in
their
hands.
Sure,
it’s
short
enough
to
complete
in
an
evening
or
two,
but
a
confident
company
typically
likes
to
put
out
codes
well
ahead
of
launch
so
that
critics
and
reviewers
have
a
chance
to
really
delve
into
the
game
proper.

Compare
this
to
the
marketing
campaigns
for
the
likes
of
Starfield
and
it’s
a
stark
difference.
Of
course,
Starfield
was
a
much
bigger
deal
in
Microsoft’s
grand
ambitions
for
Xbox
and
I
wouldn’t
expect
the
same
level
of
money
to
be
thrown
at
making
Hellblade
2
look
like
a
rockstar,
but
I’d
expect

something.
Anything,
really.
I
mean,
let’s
not
forget
that
this
is
the
game
that
was
announced
alongside
the
Xbox
Series
X,
immediately
presenting
it
to
the
world
as
a
big
deal,
a
flagship
game
for
Xbox
new
flagship
console.

Perception
is
reality,
as
the
saying
goes.
Microsoft’s
lack
of
marketing
for
Hellblade
2
creates
a
perception
wherein
Microsoft
doesn’t
seem
to
care
about
it
and
isn’t
willing
to
spend
money
on
it.
Whether
that’s
true
or
not
doesn’t
ultimately
matter
–
it’s
what
it
looks
like
from
the
outside,
especially
right
now,
just
days
after
Microsoft
brutally
shut
down
multiple
studios.

Yes,
it
goes
without
saying
that
the
biggest
pause
for
concern
is
Xbox’s
recent
behaviour.
They
shut
down
three
Bethesda
studios,
with
a
fourth
being
fed
to
Zenimax
Online
to
help
work
on
The
Elder
Scrolls
Online.
The
biggest
victim
of
this
murder
spree
was
none
other
than
Tango
Gameworks,
the
creators
of
Hi-Fi
Rush,
an
award-winning
game
and
the
perfect
poster
boy
for
why
Microsoft
claims
Game
Pass
is
such
a
good
thing.

At
first
glance
there
doesn’t
seem
to
be
much
linking
Tango
Gameworks
and
Ninja
Theory
together,
but
when
you
stop
and
think
about
it
there
are
some
concerning
similarities
that
make
me
fear
or
Ninja
Theory’s
continued
existence.
As
part
of
the
Zenimax
deal,
Tango
Gameworks
became
part
of
the
Xbox
brand
in
2021.
Hi-Fi
Rush
was
a
niche
game
that
launched
in
2023,
just
two
years
after
Xbox
bought
the
developer,
to
become
a
critical
darling,
beloved
by
players
and
media
alike.
Xbox
also
praised
its
success,
often
denying
reports
that
they
were
not
happy
with
its
performance.
In
fact,
Aaron
Greenberg,
Xbox’s
Vice
President
of
Games
Marketing
said
it
was
a
“break
out
hit
for
us
and
our
players
in
all
key
measurements
and
expectations”
and
that
“We
couldn’t
be
happier
with
what
the
team
at
Tango
Gameworks
delivered
with
this
surprise
release”.

A
year
after
launching
Hi-Fi
Rush,
Tango
Gameworks
would
be
murdered
seemingly
without
warning
as
Xbox
decided
to
refocus
its
efforts
on
bigger
projects.

A
day
after
that,
Matt
Booty,
Head
of
Xbox
Game
Studios,
said
in
a
townhall
meeting
that
“We
need
smaller
games
that
give
us
prestige
and
awards,”.

Ninja
Theory
was
bought
by
Microsoft
in
2018
and
in
that
time
they
haven’t
done
very
much.
There
was
a
VR
version
of
the
original
Hellblade
which
was
quite
well
received
but
was
obviously
fairly
small-scale
owing
to
VR
being
far
from
mainstreat.
They
followed
that
up
by
part
1
of
Vader
Immortal,
another
VR
project
that
people
really
liked.
Bleeding
Edge
was
released
in
2020
and
was
almost
immediately
forgotten
about.
If,
like
me,
you
honestly
couldn’t
remember
what
Bleeding
Edge
was,
it
was
an
arena-based
multiplayer
game
with
a
few
cool
ideas.
It
didn’t
catch
on
though,
and
not
even
a
year
later
Ninja
Theory
stopped
working
on
it.

That’s
6
years
of
Ninja
Theory
using
Xbox’s
money
to
very
little
effect.
Most
of
that
time
and
money
was
presumably
spent
on
Hellblade
2,
which
is
why
it’s
so
shocking
that
Microsoft
aren’t
pushing
it
as
hard
as
you
might
expect.
Perhaps,
to
give
them
the
benefit
of
the
doubt,
they
are
attempting
to
temper
expectations:
Hellblade
2
is
apparently
roughly
the
same
size
as
the
first
game
(likely
7-10
hours
long)
and
will
be
selling
for
£50
rather
than
the
full
£70
that
triple-A
titles
usually
retail
for
these
days.
It
isn’t
getting
a
physical
release,
either,
although
that’s
probably
because

Xbox
is
rumoured
to
have
shut
its
physical
games
department.
Xbox
may
simply
want
to
keep
the
hype
to
a
more
realistic
level
than
making
it
seem
like
the
next
big
thing.

Is
that
minimal
output
enough,
though?
They
shut
down
Tango
Gameworks
for
producing
a
game
that
was
showered
in
awards
and
praise,
a
game
built
on
a
relatively
small
budget
over
the
course
of
5
years
–
of
which
Xbox
was
only
involved
for
2
years.
Ninja
Theory
have
spent
6
years
worth
of
Xbox
money
making
Hellblade
2,
though
we
have
no
idea
what
sort
of
budget
it
has.
The
first
game
was
apparently
made
for
under
$10m,
which
it
made
back
after
three
months
on
sale.
A
lot
of
focus
has
been
put
on
the
admittedly
breathtaking
visuals
of
Hellblade
2,
as
well
as
its
extensive
use
of
motion
capture
and
incredible
attention
to
detail
–
including
the
making
of
real-world
costumes
for
the
actors.
If
Xbox
is
willing
to
shutter
studios
for
far
less
though,
are
they
going
to
be
happy
with
a
game
that
took
so
long
to
make
and
likely
won’t
generate
massive
amounts
of
revenue
or
Game
Pass
subscriptions?
From
what
we
know,
even
Starfield
barely
made
a
dent
in
Game
Pass’
numbers.

Which
is
not
to
knock
Hellblade
2
and
its
potential
to
become
a
breakout
success.
But
I
do
think
it’s
fair
to
say
its
a
somewhat
niche
game
much
like
Hi-Fi
Rush
was,
which
I
think
is
awesome
because
that
kind
of
game
is
typically
more
interesting
and
unusual.
Game
Pass
should
be
home
of
these
kinds
of
focused
games
that
aren’t
aiming
to
find
a
massive
crowd
but
a
very
specific
group
of
people.
The
original
Senua’s
Sacrifice:
Hellblade
did
eventually
manage
to
attract
6m+
players
but
it
took
it
years
to
do
that,
speaking
to
its
niche
appeal.
It
also
took
a
year
to
reach
1m
copies
sold.
We
don’t
know
how
well
Hi-Fi
Rush
sold,
but
we
do
know
it
hit
3m
players
within
its
first
year.
It
wasn’t
enough.

I
have
no
doubt
that
every
studio
big
and
small
under
the
Xbox
umbrella
is
currently
living
in
a
state
of
dread.
As
a
brand,
Xbox
still
can’t
gets
is
message
straight,
contradicting
itself
at
almost
every
turn
about
what
its
goals
are,
what
its
focusing
on,
what
its
players
should
expect
and
what
Xbox
actually
means.
It’s
as
if
they
suffer
from
the
same
psychosis
that
Senua
does,
but
unlike
her
have
not
managed
to
use
it
to
their
advantage.
If
a
studio
like
Tango
Gameworks
can
be
cut
down
without
warning
and
seemingly
with
barely
any
explanation
about
why
it
was
chosen
to
be
sacrificed
at
the
altar
of
Xbox,
then
a
studio
like
Ninja
Theory
–
who
are
about
to
release
a
relatively
small,
niche
title
–
cannot
be
safe,
either.

Senua’s
Sacrifice
may
yet
become
Ninja
Theory’s
sacrifice.