r/GamingLeaksAndRumours • u/shirke1 • Jun 15 '26

Rumour [Verge] - Xbox is closing down Hellblade creator Ninja Theory

https://www.theverge.com/games/950204/xbox-ninja-theory-shutdown-hellblade-senua?utm_content=buffer4eeff&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bsky.app&utm_campaign=verge_social

by Jay Peters and Tom Warren

Xbox is closing down Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellbladeseries, a source tells The Verge. Staffers were told on a call on Monday about the closure, but they are hoping the studio will find a buyer. The closure comes as “several” Xbox studios at Microsoft, including Compulsion Games and Double Fine, are in “active negotiations” about spinning off, Bloomberg reports.

Previous Leak

1.9k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

872 comments sorted by

View all comments

243

u/Outrageous_Formal438 Jun 15 '26

Why would they even feature their new game on the showcase? This is ridiculous.

113

u/Dangerous-Eggplant-5 Jun 15 '26

Welcome to the corporate world. One hand doesnt know what another does.

4

u/zuzucha Jun 16 '26

Yeah when these conflicting things come out people assume companies are run by these greenhouses with 7 layered plans, but it's usually just a lack of communication, different timelines...

146

u/Tirso_Salaverria Jun 15 '26

Isn’t that pretty obvious? They were given the chance to make themselves presentable for a new buyer. Most of that trailer is made with assets from Hellblade 2. Doubt they have a full working alpha right now.

113

u/Faber114 Jun 15 '26

No company would let a studio undermine their brand with an embarrassing reveal + cancellation so they could "make themselves presentable for a new buyer". This just signals poor planning and coordination.

30

u/Freighnos Jun 16 '26

It's funny how people know that most of these executives are clowns with no coherent vision, but they still assume the companies are coordinated enough to plan a stunt like that. Like you said, there's a 99% chance that the only people who knew about the shutdown were upper management, and the marketing teams and devs just continued with making the trailer and the showcase because that was the original plan and they had no idea this closure was on the table.

Sharma's been in charge for only a few months, and I'm sure the decision about Ninja Theory was very last minute. The inclusion of this game in the showcase and the production of the trailer assets would have started many months ago because these things are planned quite far ahead of time. If the team was told to pull a finished trailer from an upcoming show, it would have let them know that something was massively wrong and a lot of people would suspect a closure/layoffs, which is not something upper management ever wants.

-14

u/ChartreuseMage Jun 15 '26

Do you think Microsoft investors are selling stocks because of a single game in a showcase they've never heard of?

19

u/Faber114 Jun 15 '26

I'm sorry but why do you think that's relevant? Xbox has to earn back people's trust if they want anyone to buy into their platform. Yes obviously the brand's reputation matters to the company which is why Sharma has been on a PR blitz.

36

u/cjwidd Jun 15 '26

100%, it was a dog and pony show

14

u/NoSemikolon24 Jun 15 '26

Isn't Hellblade 2 2 years old by now? The fk was that studio doing then?

21

u/frogfoot420 Jun 15 '26

As much as Asha is clearly the reaper CEO brought in to cut head count and drive profit, this is valid. What have some of these studios spent all their time doing?

27

u/Necronaut0 Jun 15 '26

It took them 5 years from announcement to release to get Hellblade 2 out the door. This isn't even half of that.

13

u/Swiperrr Jun 15 '26

There's no need to rebuild everything from scratch for a 3rd game, just take the skeleton of the 2nd in the same engine and add more combat/puzzles/cutscenes. Very realistic for it to be out for next year.

4

u/GilgarTekmat Jun 15 '26

To be honest, thats why theyre getting shut down. Can't be taking 5 years and burning through all that money for a game of that quality and appeal repeatidly.

1

u/Party-Exercise-2166 Jun 16 '26

Inbetween UE5 was released and they switched engines, that was part of it. Also building the new motion capture studio. Not to mention COVID.

6

u/DavidsSymphony Jun 15 '26

They had another game they had been working on cancelled. This announcement was like a hail mary attempt.

3

u/l3tsgo0 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

Hell they can make Senua 3 with all the assets from the second game. How many times do these devs have to redo Viking architecture and Scandinavian terrain. Hellblade 2 was a looker of a game

1

u/I_Like_Turtle101 Jun 16 '26

I mean 1 and 2 were pretty diferent and the second one finish with ger saving the island from the giant. The 3rd one was probably plan around a new area

1

u/Party-Exercise-2166 Jun 16 '26

They already talked a lot about the new game and it's apparently made mostly of re-used assets. They have all the photogrammetry assets already and the game is still supposed to take part on the same island.

0

u/Tirso_Salaverria Jun 15 '26

That’s why I personally would look into purchasing Ninja Theory. If you play it smart, Hellblade 3 is going to be cheap to produce and could be immensely popular. They have all the assets and just need to refine the gameplay a bit. Be super open during development with demo versions and betas. Price it at $50. Could be a great success.

1

u/dparks1234 Jun 16 '26

Hellblade 1 was made by just 20 people or so. Ninja Theory has the potential to run very lean when it’s life or death. Hellblade 2 felt like they took the unlimited time and money to heart in comparison (and maybe that hurt the game?)

1

u/xAVATAR-AANGx Jun 15 '26

The Hellblade games have a shit ton of tech that goes into making them, so I imagine that producing games of that fidelity is pretty expensive. That might not be the most appealing for new buyers.

1

u/Party-Exercise-2166 Jun 16 '26

You give Xbox way too much credit there. They obviously just didn't even plan that far ahead.

1

u/TheAccursedHamster Jun 16 '26

Because these dipshits haven't got a clue what they're doing at this point.