Senua is the third game in Ninja Theory’s Hellblade series. Its reveal during this month’s showcase just two years after Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II caught many by surprise. That surprise turned to confusion when news broke this week that Ninja Theory is one of the studios Xbox is planning to sell or shut down in the weeks ahead. Why announce a game you have no intention of releasing?
That’s the question many have been trying to reconcile this week. According to a new report from Game File, the answer is that Microsoft thought showing Senua anyway would increase the chances of finding Ninja Theory a potential buyer. The company reportedly already knew it was going to move forward with spinning off the studio at the time of Xbox’s June showcase, but moved forward with showing the teaser for a third Hellblade game anyway in the hopes that it could help draw investor interest that might facilitate some sort of sale rather than a complete shutdown.
It’s still unclear how many developers at Ninja Theory knew that when they were working on the trailer, or if studio leadership was aware of the plan prior to the showcase. Microsoft is also looking at closing or spinning off other studios, including Double Fine and Compulsion Games. Even if some or all of them are able to survive in one form or another, it’s likely they would all still face massive layoffs.
Ninja Theory, founded back in 2000, has around 100 employees and spends roughly $12 million annually on payroll, according to its latest financial report. “The team are well placed in the industry to continue building unique narrative-led experiences with the very highest production values – leading to products that have potential for both direct sales revenue and indirect revenue through game subscription services,” it wrote at the time.
