The Outerhaven writes: We discussed the 2024 Xbox Developer Direct Showcase, what we thought about the games, and scored the show in our latest episode of Spectator Mode Podcast.
Xbox's handling of the marketing for Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is casting a huge doubt over the future of its developer, Ninja Theory.
They should be worried. They we told they were free to be creative to dev. a walking sim, and now Phil and the Lady are walking that back.
let's look at the other side of the coin. why did HellBlade 2 which is a short game took more than half a decade to develop? If a game is taking millions upon millions to make then expectations will grow and when those expectations fail to meet then decisions are made.
I am not defending MS here, above is just my humble opinion.
In other words MS were never interested in the people that made the ip, MS only wanted their ip…
MS knew everything you said before they bought Ninja Theory.
"why did HellBlade 2 which is a short game took more than half a decade to develop?"
They're a smaller studio that has had a number of other projects they've been working on in that time as well.
This 2 comments from Microsoft worries me
“ Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, mentioned in an email to employees that the company is now looking to prioritize “high-impact” titles and “identify the opportunities that are best positioned for success.” Similarly, Xbox president Sara Bond talked about identifying industry trends and transitioning towards them during her recent interview with Bloomberg. ”
One is saying it will prioritize high impact games like CoD and service games while she basically saying they’re going to follow trends AKA the leader AKA Sony.
We all know that to succeed in the gaming industry you need to be a trends setter not a follower 🤦🏿.
Microsoft have learned nothing they still think that the 360 era of buy, absorb, destroy is the way to succeed in the video games industry.
They should have stayed independent and should have never gotten involved with MICROSOFT
It wasn't that easy. Ninja Theory were down to less than 20 employees and were forced to making a MOBA of all things (Bleeding Edge) in order to try and make enough money to survive. That game ended up being a total failure, so without MS, there's a high chance they closed anyway.
The same with Obsidian (ironically, they were on their last legs because they missed a metacritic score by 1 with Fallout New Vegas which would have netted them a huge cash bonus from Bethesda - something they were banking on and financially ruined them for nearly 10 years until being acquired).
Maybe someone else would have come in - but we'll never know.
If MS do close Ninja too, at that rate, we should consider possibility that MS’s end goal is to buy more and more studios and shutter them, keep the ips, then when the game development community is a desert of its former self, use MS’s abundance of capital to recreate gaming space under its own management…
Why shutter them? Maybe because otherwise it would be too obvious that they are creating a monopoly. They are shuttering them while keeping their ips, which allows for purchase of more of the multiplatform industry.
This could be a part of it. I think it has more to do with shareholders, but MS would love the position you are mentioning.
I think it really is as simple as Anast says.
According to that Bloomberg graph, Xbox experienced a few years of massive growth a few years ago and since then, it's been going down each year. Of course, most normal people would put that growth down to Covid but investors live in a different world. They don't see that it's making hundred of millions or even billions. All they see if that it's going down and that's enough to spook them.
Yup, MS is not buying to manage the studios and make games, they are buying them to dismantle and destroy, keep the ips, then go after more studios to dismantle. Once nothing is left, they will use their deep pockets to make studios. Its like telecommunication companies. They merge together and shut down competing services, so now I only have one service provider in my area, and that company is a local monopoly so they treat you however it damn well pleases.
Everything they bought is at risk, Game Pass is NEVER going to be able to support all the development for these studios while also maintaining any kind of catalog of new games.
If it wasn't supporting itself before they bought all these studios it's obviously not going to be able to support even more.
Pretty apparent they next on the cutting block. Hellblade 2 is a week out and the only noise from XBOX marketing is akin to a fart. Not even a loud pants-ripping fart....but a shameful supressed one.
🚨🚨 Never forget - Hofstaderman is a convicted sex offender / pedophile - and N4G refuses to ban him 🚨🚨
Whoa how obscure....are you ok buddy? Did you take your meds? Dont worry mods will see to you soon. Ciaou
Nobody cares. We all know your main account. Now shush and watch XBOX burn with all of us
The only thing burning should be you, pedophile. Salty because we know what you are.
And no matter how hard you try, they don’t ban my primary account 😂😂
There's no way Ninja Theory stays in business after Hellblade 2.
It's a digital only release, it's been in development for over five years, and it's a Game Pass Day One, which means it's not going to blow any sales charts apart. That's already taking into account that Ninja Theory don't make games that sell multiple millions, they cater to a niche audience.
Ninja Theory has been around for a very long time and they've served their audience well, DmC aside, but I'm betting on them closing or being absorbed soon.
Yeah apparently the ABK acquisition is not that good of a decision for them. I reckon that now after paying for ABK, MS higher ups have way more leverage than xbox team expected and that many decisions were made forcefully by MS. That would explain the blatant 180 degree turns on their strategy after years of building this image of xbox and gamepass as a safe haven for creativity.
And the strange silent from Xbox teams, best we got is a vague statement from Sarah Bond and I reckon that only happened because her schedule to show up on that show was fixed before the closure decision was made. Literally no one from Xbox executives made a public appearance to explain things, when usually they’d compete to have a say when something happened.
My theory is that they bought ABK to make COD etc exclusive (see Bethesda/Starfield). Then when the tide of public opinion turned against them, they panicked and committed to at least a decade of multiplat.
COD was going to be the big stick with which they finally beat the masses into submission to Xbox. They depended on it, bc multiple generations of their own hardware ecosystem failed to grow their core audience beyond a subset of US and UK gamers. So now that the stick has been taken away, they have to cut costs (reduce headcount) and maximize profits (sell software to other platforms).
This is just pile on journalism. Xbox has dumped 27 metric tons of cash into NT and this will be one of the biggest Xbox releases that will actually push the quality bar on AAA games (finally). I seriously doubt they are going to tank this studio all things considered.
I could see why if they had to chop studios they chose the ones they did (purely from a spreadsheet perspective, not accolades perspective). That doesn’t make it better but they were business decisions and it doesn’t mean they are just going to axe a ton of studios. Just bc MS has more money than god doesn’t mean Xbox has all that money. They have operating budgets and forecasts just like every other company. Their revenue is down. Adjustments are made. This is surgery not demolition. They still need key developers and NT is bringing far more to the table across the board (even from a technology perspective) than Tango was. I’m sad for them but it’s true.
Everybody loves a good pile on tho.
If hell blade doesn't sell new gamepass subscriptions, new xbox's or copies of its own game, it will be shuttered.
Hifi celebrated 3 million player. Now we don't know how the split between GP and sales is, yet that still wasn't good enough to save Tango.
GP does canabalise sales, no matter what they say. Also their is less player investment. It being " free" removes urgency or commitment, a player is more liley to download and forget it.
Slow news day? People were literally complaining about how much they showed of Hellblade 2 lol
Where?
Where were people complaining and where is the footage they were complaining about?
I saw the article recently about the "visual upgrade" but beyond that, where's the marketing? Where's anything that a typical bread and butter "big time" release usually receives? Where's all the "finish the fight" tagline and stuff we saw leading up to Halo Infinite?
This is supposed to be "the" game after Starfield, the other "best game ever" which received more promotion than this.
It's been shown at every xbox show for the last 5 years but in the month leading up to release there has been radio silence. I'd argue most gamers don't even know it's coming out next week. It's #191 on Steam top sellers. Compare the marketing Hellblade is getting to Stellar Blade or even Rise of the Ronin.
I don't think the lack of marketing is due to Xbox's lack of faith in the game. It's due to them laying off their entire marketing team
If I worked for any studio owned by Microsoft I'd be looking for work. I would be expecting the hammer to drop at any time.
are there any commercials for this game?? With gameplay? I would love to see it
Ninja Theory is a great developer that never really had an enormous hit. Unfortunately, that's similar to the other development companies that got shut down by MS. Hopefully, NT can buy itself back like Toys For Bob did after the acquisition.
The amount of alt accounts on these threads are hilarious. I'm having a field day, this one clown is going absolutely mental...
Sony's handling of Final Fantasy is Casting a huge doubt over the future of Square Enix.
They should be worried, being a dev under MS banner is now like being a general in Putins army, they dont like disappointment
Looking at the financially history its been spotty even though their games have seen okay reviews. Before getting purchased they were forced to become a smaller guerrilla style studio using tech to compensate for size while still aiming to make AAA games (HELLBLADE 1) on a budget. So the studio does falls into the same bucket as Tango and Arkane Austin, they make games people tend to like but no one buys them until they're on a fire sale. Likewise, key leadership roles have also departed the company ahead of launch in the co-founder Tameem Antoniades and main Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice writer. The signs are there that if the game comes out and does not move Games Pass sub count or produce sales it could mean layoffs at the studio in the least.
HELLBLADE II - ??
BLEEDING EDGE - 66
HELLBLADE - 81
Dexed - 65
DmC - 86
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - 72
Heavenly Sword - 79
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has received a substantial visual upgrade, and we've put together a comparison that shows the improvements.
Why market something that isn't designed to be sold?
This has GP rental written all over it.
Why bother showing me X shows streaming on Disney before my YouTube video since it's a rental?
Why bother showing what movies are coming to a theater?
Actually, how come game companies bothered in them past with advertising games since a lot of ppl used to rent them at BlockBuster?
Here is a simple reason: making ppl Interested in this game by making them subscribe to Gamepass, or buying the game on PC/Xbox, or worse giving them a reason to buy an Xbox console.
@Pete, speaking of movies, Microsoft should copy that business model and sell the games at $70 for 3 months and then let it hit Gamepass after those 3 months. It gives them time to let the game receive a big profit, so for that big game you've been waiting years for that you don't want spoiled, I don't mind paying the $70 a couple times a year. And for those small niche games that don't require a big budget and big profits to succeed, well Gamepass is perfect for that to see if you enjoy it.
@Noskypeno
I agree, always said that there are no financial gains in putting established games that will sell on names alone (COD, GEARS, HALO, FORZA, etc), the same way Disney won't give you the next Avenger Day 1 on Disney plus +.
MS could release game some smaller games with some AA game day 1 while making money for a couple of month on big titles.
They just posted a 20+ minute video about Psychosis and how the game portrays that through Senua.
Regardless of what Microsoft is doing (retweeting Ninja Theory is about as low effort as it gets, and Dashboard Dynamic Themes should've come months ago), Ninja Theory themselves are at least trying.
It's sad though. That new video was a really good behind-the-scenes too, and it just came at such a bad time.
who knows..they might be the next developer that gets shut down..6-12 months after Hellblade 2 is released.
"a 20+ minute video about Psychosis and how the game portrays that through Senua".....game sounds like a bundle of fun!
How much marketing do games really need these days? People that play games know when its coming out. I really think the days of the constant tv ad etc are going the way of the Dodo. What scares me more is the lack of "previews" on big video game websites, it only got a few on April 4th and then nothing since.
Wow Tankbusta40 how out of touch with reality can you be, mate. Do you think companies are insane to spend millions on having giant billboards for big releases and TV adverts and superbowl slots and round the clock PR and interviews? Most of the people who buy games aren't on gaming forums like these knowing the exact release dates!
This isn't being marketed because Microsoft isn't selling the product, it's a Game Pass day one and they don't throw their weight behind games like this.
"Here is a simple reason: making ppl Interested in this game by making them subscribe to Gamepass, or buying the game on PC/Xbox, or worse giving them a reason to buy an Xbox console."
No one is buying a Xbox for Hellblade 2. Lol. Advertising will not change that. Just considering after all this time Xbox confirmed numbers they were not good for Hellblade 1
"The last numbers we have for Hellblade 1 is that it had 6.3 million players after four years. That’s players, not sales, and that includes launching on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Switch and it was also on Xbox Game pass starting in 2018."
https://www.forbes.com/site...
Wouldn't be surprised if one of the money men at Microsoft have already earmarked this studio for closure regardless of how well Hellblade 2 does. Hence the lack of marketing spend.
Under a rock much? This game has been trailered to death already over the past 5 years.
Most likely. Otherwise more people would know about the game....most people don't...it'll drive some in Gamepass but that's probably going to be it.
Most people don't know about the first game either. I don't see this driving new members to gamepass though, it's too niche.
yupp..most likely just a matter of time.
more or less every studio that got bought by them was killed later.
It's sad that Ninja Theory can update graphics, lighting, made a marvelous game but still the sword of Damocles moving up their heads... After Tango Game works every one that works on any studios under the wing of MS are probably having a Plan B looking for another place to go thanks to that stupid idea of even if you create a jewel they can axe you...
I mean, we'll have to see.
What I find problematic was Bond really saying that each case for success metrics with different studios is different. However, the studios recently closed seemed surprised when it happened so... Is Microsoft not telling the studios what their expectations are?
It's entirely feasible, but I suspect Starfield didn't really move the needle and Bethesda is safe... But Tango, who made a game that was very well received with a smaller budget gets closed?
We really don't understand what they want. It doesn't help that they shadow dropped HFR with no marketing and I would say outperformed any expectations for it. But somehow, that wasn't enough?
In truth, we don't really know what the criteria for closure is. Specific engagement metrics? Mean play time? Some internally developed index to assess some engagement-to-budget ratio?
We don't know. I think the concern for Ninja Theory is valid, but sink or swim at MGS seems to be a moving target.
The most concerning thing about Senua is that it's a farily niche title that MS for some reason spent a fortune on. Makes you think about what their expectations are. If they are hoping for God Of War money I would expect another closure.
Seems tricky to make a game on an engine that's still being made.
Cause U5 seems kinda incomplete at this point tbh, at least with the new features that are actually unique to UE5.
Getting there tho.
Hope it plays as good as it looks. Graphically it looks next gen, freaking gorgeous, but if the gameplay isn't top notch then graphics are moot. High hopes for this one, hopefully it delivers.
You seem to put a high emphasis on gameplay yet you have high hopes for a game where gameplay seems like a distant afterthought, this game looks to be all about graphics and audio
Lots of talk about the lack of marketing yet very little talk in terms of lack of gameplay, we've seen nothing that could be considered gameplay so far unless walking very slowly is the main loop.
Phil said MS Xbox is a place for small dev teams to safely create. They will be fine.
I dont care if its upgraded, I'm not supporting a company that does crap business decisions because...reasons....I'll get when it gets into steam a a 50% discount when available.
Tango Gameworks deseves better and now I fear Ninja Theory might me next of it doesn't sell expectacular.
This game is not my thing but I admit that is visually impressive, however it would make a lot more sense if it launched closer to the Xbox series X release to serve as a game as a tech demo, like Ryse son of Rome was to Xbox one, now it will be another game on gamepass and I think that in terms of sales it won't sell well and that's why ms is not marketing it, to not spend more money on the 100+ million that it was already spent on its development.
Let me start with the game looks good no doudt. But if you look closely there is a down grade in lighting and ambient lighting as well as a different GI (Global illumination) setting. Just saying so no not an upgrade just clever solution/ optimization.
I’m planning on buying it, i really hope it supersedes the first. That’s all I really care about
Any news on a disc release? Most gamers probably don't know the release date, more so with it being digital only. Most Xbox Series X consoles stood gathering dust due to lack of games (mine included), Microsoft needs to get it out there on disc. If this happens, it'll be a £20 game for me. Or cheaper used. It's by no means a launch purchase by a long shot.
Following the closure of 4 studios, many are now worried for the future of Ninja Theory once Hellblade 2 is released.
Meant better to sell the studio and not closing it 🤦🏻 not to sell more games….
and games are sold anyways, you can buy it on xbox (not recommended if you got gamepass) but many pc gamers prefer to buy on steam than deal with the xbox app or pc gamepass!
On a side note to OP, the sales of studios wont happen though, especially when they want to retain the IPs, and well nobody is gonna buy a studios without its IPs; the other publishers that want a certain dev from the studio that are closing on their team can try to grab them as soon as they see they notice of the studio.
@Sephiroushin
Well hypothetically speaking, Ninja Theory can be sold to Sony at a lower rate sans the Hellblade IP.
Sony can then welcome them to work on the Heavenly Sword IP, which they still own.
Will be a nice proposition for Sony who can continue to offer a God of War-like hack n slash in their portfolio via Heavenly Sword 2, whilst Cory Barlog & co. decides to take a break from the God of War IP & venture some other genres.
On top of that, Ninja Theory was also interested in a sequel to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and such Sony can come to a deal with Namco Bandai regarding the Enslaved IP.
selling the studio wouldn't be an attractive offer unless they come with their IPs. MS wants to keep these IPs, so even if MS is selling just the studio, no one would wants them
Because they're next come next year. HB2 won't hit some impossible metric within MS so they're getting axed in 2025. Leave gaming now MS.
Every xbox studio is in danger now because there’s just no way they’re gonna rake in big money from game sales because of gamepass, even CoD was rumored to not come to gamepass because it would canibalize their sales number.
If they are smart they don’t put COD on GP day one. It’s one of the best selling games on yearly basis
Satya will make sure that doesnt happen. As you rightly put it; why kill the cash cow?
But then again, it is MS after all.....
I agree and disagree. They should not put it on GP, but CoD makes real money from the overpriced MTX that people buy for over a year. They also have it all linked up to the Mobile CoD, which will incentivize Twitch spending from consumers.
Software
That’s true but keep in mind COD is the best selling or top 3 selling game every year. So yes micro transactions money is there but so are billions more
They should have tiers of GP subscriptions and the higher end tier received AAA games while everyone else gets them in 60 days
Wouldn't putting it on Gamepass be smarter? Cod is typically played, I believe, for far longer than 6 months.. if you get everyone playing the game for a year, on Gamepass, you've essentially doubled your profit. $10 a month for a year $120 compared to selling the game once for $60.
Not to mention MT's, on top of it. Sell on PS5, PC and Switch, keep it on Gamepass for Xbox and PC. Much smarter in my opinion..
Also if you punish a studio for releasing a great critically acclaimed game which won some awards then what chance does anyone have
After this mess, I highly doubt the next installment of COD will be on Gamepass day one. It'll probably land on Gamepass 6 months after release date.
Like I said earlier, I wouldn't even mind. There's a good selection of games on GP already, and it gives me time to play my backlog of games while allowing the games that need to sell millions of copies to make a profit a chance to succeed, a win win scenario.
not putting CoD on GP is sort of a violation of their own marketing though. they said ALL MS 1st party games will be on GP day 1, not some. CoD is 1st party, so to not put it on GP day 1 would be considered as false marketing.
Ninja theory games were never big sellers. I could be wrong, but I doubt hellblade 2 will sell millions. I would rather they go independent and make heavenly sword 2.
heavenly sword is Sony owned IP. this will never happen as original didn't sell enough...
Wikipedia: "In 2008, it was reported that a sequel to Heavenly Sword was in-development at SCE Studio Cambridge, but was canceled due to Sony no longer seeing it as a commercially viable product"
I remember. I feel like the amount of time & technology that has passed would make a sequel a big seller now. The game has enough legacy recognition to build hype.
Hi-Fi Rush scenario: released on Gamepass - no sales, release on PS5 - handful of sales, than an email from dr. Phil:
- we so proud of your creative and immersive world and you will always be in our hearts...
but you know where the door is.
xbox has closed more studios this year, than they have released games. let that sink in
I mean, it doesn't matter how good it is, if it's on Gamepass then it won't sell.
If I were working for Ninja Theory or any MS studio i think I'd be looking for another job. I wouldn't think anyone would be safe.
I just don't know how tango and arkane got shut down when Microsoft let toys for Bob leave the stable.
There would have been room for people to work on cod surely.
Alongside that 343 hasn't done anything worthwhile since well ever they hemorrhaged money developing the slipstream engine which was so bad it's not even being used for the next halo game and they butchered the one good franchise Microsoft had yet they get a pass
Toys for Bob left MS and ABK with nothing but its people. sort of like a resignation from MS and ABK if you like but it's not like they bought themselves out like Bungie either.
It makes sense but tfb staff must of been performing some sort of work for Activision that gap surely needs to be filled.
Unless tfb was on the chopping block aswell
@Profchaos
but it was not like TfB got off scott free though. before they decided to leave by signing an agreement with MS and ABK, based on the report:
"It's not all sunshine and rainbows. 86 employees were let go earlier this year as part of broader cuts at Xbox, and its physical studio in Novato, California has shut down. It's possible Toys for Bob's move to independent development was part of a broader move to save the studio long-term, and didn't come without a heavy cost."
their studio was being torn apart by MS, so they decided to leave to save their people. let's hope they get back and running soon with their new game.
We are witnessing the death of xbox lets gooo
I hope the people affected land on their feet asap tho
Hardly any games and a whole lotta closing down studios. I didn't realize Microsawft was spelled Embracer Group. Weird...
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice after selling 500,000 copies turned a profit only 3 months after it's launch. Hellblade sold over 1 million copies by June 2018.
Gamepass won't help a game like this as it's single player that takes about 8 hours to finish. Cheaper just to get a month of gamepass finish it and play other games aswell.
I get why they did it but NT should have never allowed themselves to be bought by Microsoft. If MS shuts them down it's a complete disaster for xbox. If it happens hopefully the very talented people at NT land on their feet somewhere new, quickly.
I really hope the Xbox fans that are interested in this actually buy it and not rent it. Or if you are on the fence try it for a hour on gamepass if you enjoy it buy it. If you don't fair enough uninstall.
I don't expect anyone who has no interest in supporting this. I'm not as I couldn't get into the original.
The is short so it is a double negative for Microsoft. Less likely people will double dip on it.
Revolver digital just came out saying they much rather sell games to gamers rather than have them on subscription services like gamepass and ps+.
This game will very likely not sell. The original was relatively well received but bot a huge seller.
This is a sequel, given for free on Game pass and not available on other platforms.
It's not a game that is big enough to drive subscriptions, and very few people will actually pay for the game.
This "business" model is a mess and Microsoft is to blame 🤷♂️ the game would have done well as a $50 multiplatform release.
Ninja Theory should've known better.
If Microsoft were smart they would let the games sell for 3 months at regular price for a chance at making money, then put the games on game pass after that, like what Hollywood used to do. Even tho Microsoft is a trillion dollar company that can afford to support these companies even if they don't make a billion in it's first year, they have to listen to people that tell them to stop the support if it's not a major success.
Agreed,
Bet you in 6 months or 12 months they will release it on ps5. But it won't sell all that good compared to if they released it same time as Xbox.
It's inevitable. Watch this space. There's no way Ninja Theory is part of MS' future plans. Their games have a niche audience.
We'll see Ninja Theory go independent in future.
Toys for Bob are so lucky they got to leave and be Indie. Microsoft probably would have closed them too.
“Shut it down.”
What was the point of these mergers to take the ips and destroy them?
Walking sims aren't known to pull in a ton of money. They are next. Good thing the bosses of Ninja Theory cashed in.
I've stated this in a couple of articles that XB fans should support Hellblade 2 by buying the game first & foremost instead of renting the game. Solely sales matter. If the game doesn't sell well MS may shut Ninja Theory down as well.
Before that happens more than likely Hellblade 2 will release on the PS5 to see how well it sells.
Anyone working on any studio on the hands of MS are shaking like crazy and we all know why... They can "make a great game" and still lose his/her job because stupid suit guys that thinks they now better the market than people who make games. It's so sad and this year beat up last year in losing jobs and it's just May...
Mark my words. This will sell terribly, get middling review scores, Xbox will say it didn't meet expectations, and they will shut down Ninja Theory. Not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
Microsoft, Sarah and phil are going to toss them in the trash after hellblade 2 releases, you best believe!!
First, they sell it separately, and then, after 6 months, they should put it in GamePass. No matter how good your game is, not many people will buy it if it is released at the same time on GamePass.
I think we all know where this is heading. This game has had a very long development time and bloated budget. It's not the type of game to sell gangbusters. They will close.