320°

Ninja Theory trends on X as gamers fear for studio following Tango Gameworks closure

Following the closure of 4 studios, many are now worried for the future of Ninja Theory once Hellblade 2 is released.

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videogamer.com
Sonic188114d ago (Edited 14d ago )

How is it going to sell well when it's also releasing on gamepass 🤔

Sephiroushin14d ago

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.

RaidenBlack14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

@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.

badz14913d ago

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

Lightning7715d ago

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.

XiNatsuDragnel14d ago

Ninja theory might as well be gone in 2025 at this rate

notachance14d ago

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.

neutralgamer199214d ago

If they are smart they don’t put COD on GP day one. It’s one of the best selling games on yearly basis

Hofstaderman14d ago

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.....

thesoftware73014d ago

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.

neutralgamer199214d ago

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

MontyeKristo13d ago

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..

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 13d ago
-Foxtrot14d ago

Also if you punish a studio for releasing a great critically acclaimed game which won some awards then what chance does anyone have

Elda14d ago

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.

Noskypeno14d ago

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.

badz14913d ago

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.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 13d ago
Rynxie14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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.

solideagle14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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"

Flewid63814d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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.

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210°

Hellblade 2 is a defining moment in the evolution of real-time graphics | Digital Foundry

The Digital Foundry verdict on the technology of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.

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eurogamer.net
PrinceOfAnger4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Such a good looking game, best graphics this gen so far

" When the camera zooms in for a close-up, the level of detail is such that it left me guessing whether I was looking at real-time graphics or a pre-rendered cutscene. Thankfully, with Photo Mode being available at any time, you can easily confirm that they are, in fact, real-time.Of course, it's really the animation you experience while playing that impressed me the most. The expressions visible while engaged in combat or simply exploring really help bring the characters to life. "

As a story-focused game, characters and character rendering play a significant role in the presentation. However, while the pre-release media largely focused on Senua herself, Hellblade 2 features a surprisingly large number of other humans. It's without doubt one of the games defining visual features - the character rendering in Hellblade 2 sets new standards, delivering sequences that, at times, almost resemble actual filmed scenes with real actors. This is one of the first examples of a game that stands up against the promise of the UE5 demo The Matrix Awakens. The scenes feel very natural and realistic in a way that manages to somewhat sidestep the uncanny valley almost completely.

Einhander19722h ago

So, the other day I was talking about how DF lies, and their bias. I said cross-reference what they say with other videos and you'll see that what they say is dishonest.

You can see here, that frame-rate is section is hidden near the end of the video and it's one of the shortest sections and of course the segment they show is all 30 fps and they of course don't show any series s footage, but they specifically say it holds 30 FPS "flawlessly".

"It does reach this target flawlessly in my experience with virtually zero hiccups - it runs at 30fps and 30fps is exactly what you'll get from start to finish."

Now watch this video
https://youtu.be/UNwO6WZD0c...
https://youtu.be/UNwO6WZD0c...

Here it drops to 21 fps for example
https://youtu.be/UNwO6WZD0c...

I just used these videos because they were already posted on N4G and Analista De Bits it above questioning about legitimacy, but you can find other people who will also show that the game drops frames regularly, especially on series s.

Petebloodyonion1h ago

OMG! You caught them Lying hard because the game frame dips from time to time to 29 frames per second and at one point it drops for flash at 21 FPS.
Clearly, they are trying to hide something and the 99% of the time that the game holds 30 frames doesn't mean squats in a saying with VIRTUALLY Zero hiccups.

As you can see by the several comments in the video you posted people are venting their anger about how well the Serie S is holding up and how well the game is running across the board

But I guess MS probably paid the users to Shill for MS also since it's your narrative
By the way, let me inform you that 87% of Steam users who got this game are recommending it!
https://store.steampowered....
Must be shilled too right?

darthv721h ago

You're trying too hard... John enjoyed the game and stated as much in his testing.

Einhander19721h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Petebloodyonion

OMG! You caught them Lying hard because the game frame dips from time to time to 29 frames per second and at one point it drops for flash at 21 FPS.

I did catch them lying, thanks for noticing.

The problem isn't me. The problem is that you're O.K. with it because they are lying in a way that supports your personal opinion.

darthv72

Get mad at me because I catch them being dishonest? I'm the bad guy, not the people who are actually lying. Man, the world we live in today is absolutely backwards, it's the bizarro timeline...

If I wanted to take the time I could show you that this isn't the exception, they constantly lie and mislead people in their videos.

OptimusDK4h ago

Incredible graphics..this is finally next gen graphics. It’s an experience more than a game. You can fault it or accept it and embrace what it gives you. It’s like Sony 1886.

PrinceOfAnger4h ago

(Summary)
- Takes advantage of everything UE5 offers
- Final game 'lives up to the lofty expectations' of the 2019 reveal
- Character rendering sets new standards and nearly resembles movie sequences with actual actors
- Leverages Unreal's Meta Human 5 to bypass the uncanny valley feel
- DF were left guessing whether some cut-scenes were in-game or real life footage (photo mode shows they're all real time)
- Character detail and how light / specular etc reflect on it praised
- A lot of the visual make up is tied to the post-process effects
- No option to disable things like CA, DoF etc but it's all suitable to the games presentation
- Soft filmic image quality and wider FoV praised

Resolution and Visuals:
- DRS 1296 to 1440p (w/ black bars 964 to 1070p). Series S will be covered in separate video
- 'Not sure if adding more pixels would make a difference to the filmic quality'

UE5 Features:
- Lumen is used extensively for direct and in-direct lighting, a lot of real time changes and shadows etc all update accordingly
- 'Phenomenal stuff'
- Lumen does a better job than traditional real time lighting system for indirectly lit areas like under ramps etc
- Lumen reflections used in combination with SSR for water bodies. Some water bodies can show SSR artifacts when moving camera
- 'Anyone looking at the game in motion will be impressed even if they do not understand the technical reasons'
- Unreal's fog is used effectively, fog lights up with light sources and runs at high quality
- Water effects and waves are praised. ' Absolutely stunning'

- Nanite is extensively used and eliminates visible pop-in even during scene transitions
- Minimal repetition or tiling, uses photo-grammatory
- Some assets like tree branches can show low resolution when zoomed in with photo mode, however

- Fine shadow detail is retained even when zooming extremely in thanks to Unreal's Virtual Shadow Maps
- Shadow quality is not always perfect and can show cracks in some instances but very consistent by and large
- Not the first UE5 game to use all these features, but by and far the best looking game to do so.

Performance:
- 30 FPS but the performance is locked and never dropped in John's testing on Series X
- DF tested the game on their Series X - similar - PC to see how much performance could be gained over 30
- 4K with DRS, they were able to stay locked at 30 FPS on High
- DRS 1440p with 60 FPS target sees game play at high 50s with more drops in cut-scenes
- DF thinks based on this test, SX can do 60 FPS with a more aggressive DRS target
- However, PC version can show massive frame time stutters that the Xbox version does not in the same areas
- DF summary: 60 FPS is theoretically possible, but for a stable 60 they might need to drop settings a lot

Audio
- Headphones are needed for Binaural audio effect that the game uses extensively
- DF thinks it is 'incredibly engaging'

Trailer Comparison:
- They compare the Giant fight trailer with the same area in the final game
- Final game has lesser lens distortion and difference in how the flame is lit
- The flames felt more 'fluid' in the demo versus the final game, otherwise no difference in the segment noted

- DF thinks Ninja Theory 'reached their goal'
- Praise the polish, presentation etc.

Obscure_Observer3h ago

Excellent work from Ninja Theory to get the Series X to finally flex it´s 12TF muscles to the max!

Thanks for the summary, @PrinceOfAnger.

Cheers!

PrinceOfAnger2h ago

After all 60fps is possible on series x with tweaking the graphics settings! :)

Lightning7743m ago

They hate those facts very much lol.

darthv723h ago

If they achieved this level of quality their first time using UE5... I can't wait to see what their next game is going to look like.

PhillyDonJawn2h ago

Remember the trailer release and ppl didn't think it was insane footage cause it looked too good

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210°

Ubisoft say AC Shadows protagonists will be "romantically attracted to different types of people"

Ubisoft recently shared more details about Assassin's Creed Shadows protagonists, confirming that both of them will romantically attract and be attracted to different types of people.

Hugodastrevas17h ago

That should please everyone I'm sure...

RpgSama2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Feudal Japan DEI LGBTQ+ Samurai, sounds very accurate for the time period. Surely a decision made only with historical accuracy in mind.

Crows902h ago

Or even modern day accuracy.....

Lexreborn22h ago

You have no idea what you are talking about, bet you didn’t know nobunaga was bi-sexual. Or ran maru his is often depicted as androgynous was a “beautiful boy”.

So yeah, feudal Japan had tons of lgbtq and kawaii enough… A BLACK SAMURAI! All without the need of offending a Caucasian because the world is diverse.

VenomUK51m ago(Edited 46m ago)

This story has cracked me up so much! Bravo Ubisoft, bravo! 🤣. So last week everyone was upset that in the long-awaited first Assassin’s Creed: Japan game the protagonist is black. But NOW he is also LGBTQ+ ! It’s like the Ubisoft creative team sat around a table and said “How can we best impress our Kotaku/IGN/Polygon friends and antagonise gamers? Let’s make it woke x 100!’ And then they all silent clapped!

Just you wait until the Star Wars: Outlaws details come out, there better not be anybody complaining about Kay Vess’ dating preferences and the gay droid armies.

Christopher32m ago

It actually is.

Japanese were very Greek in their sexual experiences.

lodossrage29m ago

Lexreborn2 is right

Go read up on Japan's feudal era homosexuality and bisexuality was a very common thing in that time.

I just have to laugh because the same people complaining about this are the same ones crying about wanting "historical accuracy". When it's clear most of the whiners don't even know history themselves.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 29m ago
CrimsonWing692h ago

Geezus, just make a good game… holy sh*t this is becoming insufferable.

Crows902h ago

Oh yeah!!!! What about being inclusive???

I'm sorry
..please replace the word inclusive with stupid.

Hofstaderman1h ago

You asking UbiSoft to make a good game? This is not 2002.

Hofstaderman1h ago

I take my hat off to you good sir. Brilliant.

Laskin35m ago

Thanks… I was originally going to write Samu-Bi but then I realized it was right there already so it works better

darthv722h ago

Is that genuinely a selling point for people?

RpgSama2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

They sure as hell want to see if it is, time and time and time again.

VincentVanBro1h ago

You have to understand they’re incapable of writing a good story so this is the best they could come up with

Show all comments (27)
70°

Unannounced Valve 6v6 Shooter MOBA Footage Leaked

ESTNN writes: "A leak for Valve's 6v6 3rd-person shooter MOBA has supposedly been released ahead of time. And if the reports are true, fans of the genre have much to be excited for."

XiNatsuDragnel1d 10h ago

Deadlock looks like bioshock and Moba had babies

JunonZanon2h ago

Valve really cannot count to 3.

Number1TailzFan50m ago

They should've had a new L4D like 10 years ago, it can be expanded upon a lot more but they just left it collecting dust.. it was a good game for its time but L4D2 doesn't have nearly enough content these days to keep players engaged, and it needs a serious graphics upgrade