WhileMicrosoft’s Phil Spencer remains under firefollowing this week’s disastrous news, Xbox fans are now targeting the studio for its abysmal marketing of one of this year’s biggest releases:Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Given recent events, fans of the upcoming sequel are mocking Xbox and expressing their concern for developerNinja Theory. While Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was a huge success for Ninja Theory when it was released in 2017, the studio has since been acquired by Microsoft, which means the upcoming sequel will be exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and PC.
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Microsoft announced it had acquired developer Ninja Theory during E3 2018. The studio’s founder and chief creative director Tameem Antoniades said that Ninja Theory wasn’t actively looking to be acquired and was shocked when Microsoft called. Antoniades said that the acquisition would allow the studio to “be free from the AAA machine and make games focused on the experience,” whilst also requesting full creative independence (via Polygon).
Unfortunately, Microsoft has since gone on to acquire multiple other studios, only to close them down. The most recent examples of this were just this week when Microsoft closed Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Games. Now, with such little marketing behind it, fans are concerned for the future of Ninja Theory under the Microsoft umbrella.
Hellblade 2 Fans Mock Xbox For Lack Of Marketing
Yesterday evening, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Xbox posted a screenshot of Hellblade 2 with the caption, “Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, May 21.” Both the already seen screenshot and unenthusiastic caption have led the community to mock Xbox’s lacklustre marketing for what is arguably one of its biggest games of the year.
“You have an hour according to X rules to edit the post and replace this with a NEW image, gameplay showing or something to excite fans. Go the extra mile, Ninja Theory and the fans deserve it,“one userreplied. Anothersimply said, “Wow, don’t hype it up too much now.”
Fellow journalistsJez CordenandTom Hendersonalso jokingly chimed in, with Henderson quipping, “Marketing is my passion,” while Corden said, “This tweet was Microsoft’s entire Xbox marketing budget for 2024.”
Xbox fans continued to mock the studio’s lack of marketing for Hellblade 2, but some fans appeared to be genuinely concerned for the future of Ninja Theory. JournalistImran Khansaid, “Imagine being Ninja Theory today. They could drop the best game of the year this month and still close down if someone at Microsoft moves their arbitrary “Well it’s not Call of Duty” numbers goalpost.”
Withlayoffs and studio closuresbecoming more and more frequent, it’s a worrying time for the industry. Even with award-winning titles and critical successes, there’s no guarantee that a studio won’t be next to close.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
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